In the wake

of recent ethics charges against the city attorney,

Peachtree City officials are looking at ways to require

more financial disclosure from the city's contractors.

An ethics

board was convened to hear a charge against Jim Webb

earlier this year. The case was dismissed when Griffin

attorney Andrew Whalen III advised the ethics board that

the city attorney is not covered under the city's current

ordinances and charter as far as ethics matters are

concerned.

Based

partly on that report, city attorney Rick Lindsey

informed the City Council at its May 4 meeting that some

revisions to the ethics code may be in order.

Lindsey

reiterated his earlier comments that he believes the

Georgia Constitution has preempted the state legislature

and local governments from enacting laws that control the

practice of law, choosing instead to place that authority

entirely with state Supreme Court. Based on that

interpretation, any ordinance passed by the city in that

regard would be unconstitutional, he said.

But Lindsey

went on to say that he did believe the city could gain

some additional control over the city attorney, such as

the ability to require financial disclosure and make the

city attorney a city official. One of Webb's arguments in

his ethics case, and one with which Whalen agreed, was

that the city attorney is not a "city official"

the way the city's laws currently read.

To obtain

this kind of control, the City Council would have to pass

an ordinance or make a change to the city's charter,

Lindsey said. But doing so would also require careful

consideration of the city's interests balanced against

those of the city official in question, he added.

"For

example, I am willing to fully disclose all of my

(limited) financial matters to you and to the public, but

there may be some other very qualified potential

candidates for the city attorney position who might be

reluctant or even opposed to `big brother government'

prying into such personal matters," said Lindsey.

"Obviously, that is a decision you will have to

make."

Lindsey

concluded his remarks by saying that he was now in a

position to simply wait for whatever direction the

council wanted him to take. All of these guidelines could

conceivably be applied to auditors, he added, although he

has not researched what, if any, standards already apply

to CPAs.

Councilman

Robert Brooks suggested doing some research into how

other municipalities have handled matters of this nature,

and the rest of the council agreed. Annie McMenamin added

that there could be some potential for duplication of

safeguards that are already in place, since attorneys are

already subject to a separate ethics code.