In a break from internal discord, the state ethics commission on Tuesday disposed of some of its lingering backlog of complaints. Here’s a look at what they did:
Ordered Columbia County Tax Commissioner Kay K. Allen to pay a $125 late fee and delayed a decision on whether to award legal fees to Allen's attorney on separate complaints that were dismissed.
Dismissed a complaint filed in November against Sandy Springs City Councilman Andy Bauman for sharing a link to the city's official website in a Facebook post regarding a campaign endorsement.
Dismissed a complaint filed in February against Public Service Commissioner Lauren "Bubba" McDonald claiming he filed incomplete information about some of his campaign contributors.
Dismissed a complaint filed in June 2013 against Kennesaw Mayor Mark Mathews claiming he misused campaign donations to buy raffle tickets and gift cards for "city management."
Approved a consent order based on a 2013 complaint against Channing Ruskell, a former candidate for the Cherokee County Commission and solicitor general, for alleged problems with his campaign contribution reports and personal financial disclosure. Ruskell agreed to pay $250 in late fees.
Approved a consent order based on an October 2013 complaint filed against Brooklet City Councilman Greg Schlierf for failure to file campaign finance and personal financial disclosure reports. Waived fees and penalties based on a hardship waiver.
Approved a consent order based on a complaint filed in April against Columbia County Commissioner Ron Cross for not filing proper reports. Cross agreed to pay $250 in late fees and a civil penalty of $2,500.
Approved a consent order based on an October 2013 complaint against Muscogee County school board member Athavia Senior for failure to file campaign finance and personal financial disclosure reports. Senior agreed to pay $2,375 in penalties and late fees.
Finalized a June 2010 consent order with former gubernatorial candidate Karen Handel for improperly designating an in-kind donation received during the primary election as a general election contribution. Handel agreed to pay $75 in late fees.
Approved a consent order based on an October 2013 complaint filed against Brooklet City Councilman Tom McElwee for failure to file campaign finance and personal financial disclosure reports. McElwee agreed to pay $250 in late fees and $400 in civil penalties.
Approved a consent order based on a complaint filed in March against Cherokee County schools Superintendent Frank Petruzielo claiming emails sent to school employees referencing a school district employee as a candidate for the state House of Representatives violated state law. Petruzielo agreed to pay $500 in civil penalties.
The commission also finalized work on three older cases that had already been considered. These cases were handled by the commission under the previous executive director and attorney but were never finished.
Approved a consent order based on a January 2012 complaint against legislative hopeful Spencer Price for multiple alleged errors in campaign finance and other reports. Price agreed to pay a total of $1,150 in fees and penalties.
Dismissed a June 2012 complaint filed against the Cherokee County Tea Party Patriots for not registering as an independent committee.
Dismissed a 2010 complaint against former Gov. Roy Barnes who registered as a lobbyist out of an abundance of caution when he was to represent a legal client before a local board.
The state ethics commission on Tuesday did something that hasn’t happened since March: It met in public and did the actual work that defines the agency’s mission.
The five-member board met for six hours and began the long slog of getting the agency back on track. By late afternoon’s adjournment, commissioners closed 14 complaints against elected officials and candidates, approved three new advisory opinions on the state’s ethics law and discussed the agency’s path forward.
The commission, formally known as the Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, has been plagued for more than three years by litigation, accusations of dirty dealing and back-stabbing among staff. Three lawsuits and a threatened fourth have resulted in nearly $3 million in taxpayer dollars going to former employees in whistleblower cases, and more could still come, as former executive director Holly LaBerge, fired in September, has already laid the groundwork for a whistleblower claim herself.
Commissioner Lawton Jordan, appointed to the board nearly a year ago, finally got to cast a vote on his first ethics case Tuesday after watching the commission bob in and out of a morass the past 12 months.
“It is just a relief to finally be getting down to business,” Jordan said. “You know what we’ve been through. Now, this is what we’re supposed to be doing.”
What they’re doing is clearing a massive pileup.
Staff attorney Robert Lane, hired in July along with Bethany Whetzel, said Tuesday that they have identified 213 ethics cases currently open. That includes 183 that are still in-house at the commission and an additional 30 that have been forwarded for an administrative law hearing.
“Ms. Whetzel and Mr. Lane have hit the ground running,” said Hillary Stringfellow, who became the commission’s chairwoman in August. “They had a daunting task.”
Lane said their first task was to create a tracking system for cases, as none previously existed. They then organized the cases and dug in.
“Technically, all of them are important and all of them need to be looked at,” Lane said. “We weren’t given a lot of guidance from Ms. LaBerge on which cases need to be processed first. We decided we would start with the most recent cases and work our way back.”
Commissioners said it will take 12-18 months before the backlog of cases is eliminated, and in that time, of course, many more will likely come in. By December the commission hopes to vote on a series of new rules for candidates, committees, elected officials and lobbyists.
Still, they agreed, it’s a start.
In 2011 and 2012, the commission met 14 times, but only twice by teleconference. In the past two years, commissioners have met 11 times, seven times by phone.
State law allows for statewide commissions to meet by teleconference, but the reliance on such meetings in recent years by the governing body has only underscored the commission’s disarray. Most of the commission’s meetings during that period have dealt with internal problems, including numerous lawsuits filed by former employees and a progressive disciplinary approach to LaBerge, leading to her dismissal.
Tuesday’s meeting is the first since July 2012 to deal extensively with the things the ethics commission was created to do: issue opinions and rule on complaints.
The agency is moving ahead for now without an executive director. LaBerge, the former director, was fired last month after a judge said she had been “dishonest and nontransparent” while the commission was facing a lawsuit filed by her predecessor.
The progress shown since LaBerge’s removal is impressive, said former Commissioner Robert Highsmith, a partner at the law firm Holland & Knight.
“In less than a month as chair, Hillary Stringfellow has gotten rid of Holly LaBerge and installed two talented lawyers who are presenting cases to the commission for resolution at a strong clip,” Highsmith said. “Those of us who practice before the commission are thrilled that we will no longer be forced to deal with caprice as we represent our clients.”
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