An audit by the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office says Bradley County District 6 Commissioner Erica Davis violated the state’s conflict of interest statute by indirectly benefiting from a county contract at Lake Forest Middle School.
Davis owns TriStar Enterprises, which entered into a subcontract with Berywood Landscaping LLC, the low-bidder at $45,000, for work at Lake Forest to remove three county-owned buildings. The bid was approved in a May 18, 2020, commission vote that included Davis, according to the state comptroller’s audit released in December.
“TriStar is a trucking company owned and operated by Erica Davis, who is a member of the Bradley County Commission, and who voted to award the bid to Berywood,” the audit states. “Ms. Davis stated that her company performed work on the Lake Forest Middle School property, and she provided auditors with three separate invoices sent to Berywood from TriStar totaling $23,422.50 for hauling services.
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“These payments appear to violate the state conflict of interest statute. This statute states that ‘it is unlawful for any officer, committee member, director or other person whose duty it is to vote for, let out, overlook or in any manner to superintend any work or any contract in which any … county … shall or may be interested, to be indirectly interested in any such contract unless the officer publicly acknowledges such officer’s interest.'”