By Paul Leach
Correspondent
BENTON, Tenn — Polk County commissioners have asked attorneys to review an alleged conflict of interest regarding Commissioner Daren Waters’ employment with the county school system.
The commission has invited County Attorney Jimmy Logan and an attorney from the University of Tennessee’s County Technical Assistance Service to a Nov. 18 meeting.
In the commission’s Sept. 16 meeting, Commissioner Sheena Gaddis said Waters’ new job as a teacher’s aide posed a potential conflict of interest when the commission votes on the school system’s annual budget.
“I’m not being hateful, just following the law,” Gaddis said in the meeting. “It’s like somebody sitting on the board voting on their own payroll.”
At the commission’s Sept. 28 meeting, Logan said Waters could vote on school budget matters, but he would need to state his conflict before casting a vote.
Since Waters was a longtime employee of the school system before his 1998 election, he was exempt from an outright conflict, Logan said.
“I told [Commissioner Gaddis] that I didn’t think we had different opinions and that the law is clear,” Logan wrote in an Oct. 11 e-mail to CTAS consultant Gary Hayes.
Logan said he had not received a response from Hayes by e-mail or phone as Oct. 26.
Neither Hayes nor Waters responded to repeated requests for comment.
Paul Leach is based in Cleveland. E-mail him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.