Council members will begin sifting through the city’s ethics policy after a meeting Tuesday morning showed apparent contradictions between the City Charter and state law.
“I’ve read them both,” said Councilwoman Carol Berz. “I think there are conflicts.”
Council members met at 10 a.m. Tuesday with the University of Tennessee’s Municipal Technical Assistance Service to hear a briefing on ethics and conflict-of-interest laws.
Sid Hemsley, MTAS’s senior legal consultant, told council members there are two types of conflicts of interest – direct and indirect. He said the indirect conflicts of interest, such as serving on boards or family members having interest in projects the city votes on, are where most governments have problems.
Councilman Andraé McGary asked how these problems are decided.
“Who ultimately defines it?” McGary asked.
“The courts,” Hemsley replied.
The meeting came about after some council members recently questioned whether some of their private dealings could be construed as conflicts of interest with the City Charter.
Berz, who owns Private Dispute Resolution Services, a mediation firm, asked if it was a conflict if a city employee used city dollars to take a class taught by her company.
A question also was raised whether McGary’s talk-radio show was a conflict.
Hemsley told council members that the mediation firm question would have to be researched further, but McGary’s show was not a problem.
But there are some parts of state law that supersede the City Charter, he said. A specific example is that the City Charter does not allow any family members to contract with the city, he said, but that rule violates state law.
He also said some parts of the charter were “unenforceable,” such as a provision that says if any council member misses three meetings in a row, he or she can be thrown out of office.
MTAS officials told council members they would begin looking at the state law and City Charter in an effort to refine city law.
In other business, the City Council will vote next week on selling six acres in the Enterprise South industrial park to East Side Utility for $210,000. The city and county jointly own the property at Bonnie Oaks Drive and Hickory Valley Road.
City officials said East Side Utility plans to build an office building at the site, moving from its current location on Lee Highway.
Contact Cliff Hightower at chightower@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6480. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/CliffHightower.