Mayoral aspirants consider overlap in elected office, business ties
by Keith Laing, The Brunswick News
It is a well-known fact that many local officials maintain jobs outside of the ones they are elected to perform. Ideally, those jobs don’t interfere with city business.
But since Bryan Thompson announced his intention to seek the mayor’s office in the Nov. 8 city elections, several citizens and other potential candidates have wondered aloud if Thompson’s position as president of Blueprint Brunswick would impact city business or vice versa.
The contention stems from the fact that although Blueprint Brunswick is a non-profit organization aimed at revitalizing the city, it receives funding from both the county and city.
The mayor of Brunswick and chair of the Glynn County Commission both sit on the organization’s board of directors.
“I’m not a legal expert, but at first glance there appears to be a conflict of interest,” said Betsy Bean, who plans to seek the office currently held by Mayor Brad Brown. “I think Bryan does a wonderful job in the position he’s in, but if there is a conflict it goes against everything I think good government is about.”
Another of Thompson’s opponents in the race said she is certain of a conflict of interest.
“If not in the letter of the law, definitely in the spirit of it,” said Elaine Brown.
“I’m concerned that Blueprint Brunswick will operate in a way that the people could not participate in.”
Bean said the issue is not that Thompson currently runs the organization, it’s that as mayor he would sit on the board.
“There’s something in state law called incompatible offices, which basically says that you can’t supervise yourself,” she said.
“There have been many rulings that restrict public officers from doing that.”
Teddy Lee, executive secretary of the Georgia Ethics Commission, said there are several things that need to be considered whenever a potential conflict of interest arises in elections.
“There are a number of things that have to be looked into when you have overlapping or simultaneous employment to avoid doing the public a disservice,” he said.
Thompson said he was concerned about avoiding conflict.
“We had an outside legal opinion on this and found no conflicts,” he said. “(Blueprint Brunswick) is set up as a separate entity. I am not a city or county employee.”
Austin Catts, Thompson’s campaign attorney, said Thompson’s employment with Blueprint Brunswick was no different than anyone else’s.
“I’ve reviewed the city ordinances and relevant state law and there’s no prohibition against a person employed as he is running for mayor,” he said.
Catts did acknowledge that because the city does business with Blueprint Brunswick, there could be future issues, but said both entities are capable of avoiding conflicts.
“Some could always arise (later), but both the city and Blueprint Brunswick have provisions in place for that,” he said.
One such provision stipulates that the mayor or county commission chair does not have to serve on the Blueprint Brunswick board, instead appointing a designee.
LeRoy Dumas, who also plans to seek the mayoral office, said as long as possible conflicts have been addressed, he is not concerned about Thompson seeking the mayor’s office.
“If there’s no conflict of interest, I’d (tell) him to keep running,” he said.
“If he’s legally checked it out, I have no problem with it.”
