Two separate ethics boards

have met to organize their plans for looking into alleged

violations by city attorney Jim Webb and councilman Dan

Tennant.

Council members at their

last regular meeting Mar. 16 took turns drawing names

from a 10-member pool until two five-member groups were

selected. An organizational meeting was then set for

April 4, with attorney Andrew Whalen III of Griffin as

the advisor to both boards, but that was moved up to

Wednesday of this week..

Whalen is involved because

while city ordinances call for the city attorney to

normally advise the ethics board, the council determined

that would not be proper in either case since one

complaint involves the city attorney and other involves a

councilman. Whalen was appointed by the council at a rate

of $150 per hour.

Herman Pearson, Fred Brown,

John Dillahunt, Lynn Gray and Eileen Shaw were chosen to

investigate the Webb complaint. Steve Brown was excluded

from the pool because Webb has filed suit against him in

Fayette County Superior Court, and Jim Steinbach recused

himself from this case due to an unspecified conflict.

The Webb case stems from a

letter sent to city manager Jim Basinger by local

resident Mike Hyde, who alleged that Webb advised the

council concerning a proposed buffer ordinance three

years ago when a company he was involved in owned

property on Ga. Highway 54 that would be directly

impacted by the ordinance.

Pearson, Gray, Steinbach,

Brown and Tim Kaigler were selected for the Tennant case.

Tennant introduced an ordinance amendment at last week's

council meeting after circulating it by e-mail to other

council members for their input.

Fellow councilman Annie

McMenamin alleged that Tennant violated Georgia's

`sunshine laws,' which set guidelines for open meetings.

Brown was elected Wednesday

to chair the Webb group, while Steinbach was chosen to

chair the board looking into the Tennant case.

Brown and Gray were the

only members not in attendance Wednesday, and both of

them are serving on both boards. Brown is being contacted

and will be given an opportunity to decline the chair,

according to city clerk Nancy Faulkner.

Public hearings for both

cases are scheduled for Wednesday, April 12, at 6 p.m.

(Tennant case) and 7 p.m. (Webb case).

Tuesday, April 18, was

chosen as a backup date in case Brown and Gray cannot

attend the week before. All other board members said they

could be there, Faulkner said. The hearings can proceed

with a quorum, but the boards are wanting all members to

be in attendance if at all possible.

Other official action

Wednesday included approval of the service complaints for

both Webb and Tennant, which are simply formal documents

outlining what ordinance sections are being utilized in

the complaints and giving notification as to when the

public hearings are.

Tennant attended

Wednesday's hearing, but Webb did not, although he sent a

letter informing the board that he would be out of town

for a few days in the near future and he requested that

his hearing not be during that time. That was not a

problem, Faulkner said.

While the boards' primary

responsibility is to determine if the city's ethics

ordinance has been violated, there is a provision in the

ordinance that allows the boards to make recommendations

if they feel any changes or enhancements to the ordinance

are necessary.

The ethics ordinance will

also be discussed by the City Council at its upcoming

retreat, scheduled for April 7-8. Among the questions

that could be covered there, according to Faulkner, are

whether there should there be a statute of limitations,

if there is a provision for someone to withdraw a

complaint, and what happens if a conflict concerning a

board member is discovered after that person is named to

the board.

The board investigating the

Webb case asked for a copy of the tape from the 1997 City

Council meeting in which Webb made the comments that

brought about Hyde's complaint.

That portion of the tape

will be heard in public at the next meeting, Faulkner

said.