Before the Greenville City Council made its final decision on its new board member for the Greenville Public School District, Greenville resident Andrew Smith submitted a letter to the council regarding ethics.
The Greenville City council appointed Antoinette Williams as a Greenville Public School District board trustee by a 3-2 vote on Monday.
Roughly a week prior to her appointment, Greenville resident Andrew Smith submitted a letter to the city council regarding ethics concerns as it pertained to the GPSD board trustee appointment.
Smith asked that the letter be accepted as a formal expression of his concern of the ethics violation that would possibly occur if councilwoman Bailey-Banks participated in the recent appointment of the board trustee for GPSD.
Smith also submitted copies of the letter to the city attorney, city clerk and chief counsel of the Mississippi Ethics Commission, Tom Hood.
In the letter, Smith stated, “My concern is that Councilwoman Bailey-Banks’ spouse is an executive level employee of the Greenville Public School District and she should not participate in the appointment of a board trustee,” referring to Section 25-4-101 (Mississippi Code of 1972).
Since then, city attorney Andy Alexander has conferred with Hood and informed the council and Smith that Banks participating in the vote for appointment of a GPSD board trustee would not be illegal.
“There’s nothing illegal about a person in that situation voting, what is improper or illegal is engaging in a deal — fraudulent, criminal or otherwise with the relative in the situation or to make extra money out of it,” Alexander explained at the council meeting.
Councilman and vice mayor Banks did abstain from the GPSD board trustee appointment vote, though, according to the law, it would not have been illegal for her to participate.
Smith enclosed with the letters copies of opinions that supported the position councilwoman Banks should recuse herself from voting and providing input on the trustee appointment for GPSD.
Alexander clarified the vote itself is not illegal, it is the improper conduct that results from someone being elected.
“The Ethics Commission advises people — elected officials— to avoid the appearance of impropriety,” Alexander added.
Hood said the Ethics Commission has issued advice to a number of municipal board members over the years and generally, the consensus is, he or she is not prohibited from voting on the school board appointments if a relative works for the district, but it advises that board member not to because of the potential for violation or the potential for appearance of impropriety.
“Just because they vote doesn’t mean they’re violating laws, it just means they are not doing what we advise,” Hood said.
Smith told the council his submittal was in an effort to protect the council from erring in such a matter and that is the spirit in which his letter was submitted.
“I certainly hope that is the spirit in which it was received,” he said
