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LOCAL
The Champion, Thursday, May 21 - 27, 2015
Ethics board will investigate complaint
DeKalb County Commissioner Stan Watson will have to answer to an
ethics complaint. Photo by Travis Hudgons
by Andrew Cauthen
Andrew@dekalb champ, com
DeKalb County’s ethics
board will look into an al
legation that Commissioner
Stan Watson violated the
ethics code when he voted
for Panola Slope Resort
while he was a consultant
for the developer, APD So
lutions.
From 2012 to 2014, Wat
son was a paid consultant
for APD Solutions, earn
ing approximately $500 a
month, said Robert Brown
ing, an investigator for the
ethics board. In 2012, Wat
son received $6,800. In 2013
and 2014, he received $6,500
each year. He ended his em
ployment with the company
early in 2014.
“On April 10,2012, ...
there was a vote to award
$1M to APD solutions and
National Property Institute,”
Browning said. The motion
passed with Watson voting
in favor of the award.
On Jan. 8, 2013, the
Board of Commissioners
“took up an agenda item
to award an additional
$500,000 to APD Solutions
to continue with the same
project,” Browning said.
“Commissioner Watson
was there at the meeting,”
Browning said. “Commis
sioner [Sharon] Barnes
Sutton makes the motion to
give the money to the com
pany and Commissioner
Watson seconded the mo
tion.”
The motion passed
unanimously.
Browning said when he
interviewed Watson about
the vote, Watson said “he
missed it. He had been busy.
He said he’s been trying to
cover District 5, along with
his district and he’s been a
little overwhelmed. And he
just missed it.” Watson also
told the investigator that
Watson said he did not ask
for the item to be put on the
agenda.
“Watson wanted me to
stress that he owns no stock
in APD Solutions and that
he did not receive a bonus
or anything for his vote on
this agenda item,” Browning
said.
“This would probably...
be a violation of ethics being
that he was a paid consul
tant and he did vote on the
contract,” Browning said.
Ethics board member
Clara Black-Delay did not
think there was a need for
an ethics investigation.
“Whether or not he
should have voted is a ques
tion,” she said. “Whether or
not the vote gave ADP an
unfair advantage over any
other company is to me a
different issue. Based on the
fact that the vote, though
probably improper and
should have not occurred, I
don’t think it rises to the lev
el of.. .an ethics violation.”
Ethics board member
Edwinett Perkins-Murphy
said, “There needs to be
more investigation concern
ing this. There’s a need for
that.
“If.. .he abstained from
voting.. .this wouldn’t be on
the table concerning him,”
Perkins-Murphy said. “If he
had refrained from voting
altogether, then he would
not be involved in the ethics
violation. He voted twice...
knowing that he had some
connection to the company.”
The ethics board dis
missed two other parts
of the complaint against
Watson made by DeKalb
resident and government
watchdog Rhea Johnson,
who asked that Watson be
removed from office.
One dismissed com
plaint alleged that the cell
phone Watson was using
was a personal cell phone
that he had prior to being
elected as commissioner,
Browning said.
Because he had number
already out there he contin
ued to use that one,” Brown
ing said. “While I think
there were some personal
phone calls on that, and he
admits there were, a large
majority of his... cellphone
use .. .was for county busi
ness.”
“It was his personal cell
phone, but I don’t believe it
was any violation,” Brown
ing said. “He has, as a sign of
good faith, repaid those cell
phone bills.”
Other commissioners,
Browning said, have used
their personal cellphones
just as Watson did.
Another dismissed eth
ics complaint alleges that
he violated the use of his
county-issued purchasing
card to pay for his website,
Browning said.
“Other commissioners
do the same thing when
they pay out of their county
budget an independent web
master to handle their own
website,” Browning said.
“They contend that the IT
[information technology de
partment] within the county
is not capable of keeping
up in a timely manner the
amount of information that
comes in.”
Browning said the coun
ty’s IT department agrees
that “due to the level of
information from each inde
pendent commissioner that
they cannot keep up and put
things out in a timely man
ner on the DeKalb County
website.”
The problem cited in the
allegation against Watson is
that on his website he had
two portals—one for dona
tions to community events
and projects, and one for
campaign contributions.
The portal for campaign
donations “would probably
be in violation, however,
after speaking to [Watson’s
webmaster], there was never
any information given to
him to set up a PayPal portal
for anybody to donate mon
ey,” Browning said.
Watson’s webmaster
asked for the information
but never received it; thus,
the donations portal was
never live, Browning said.
“The portals themselves
being there would techni
cally be a violation,.. .but
no money ever exchanged
hands through those por
tals,” Browning said.
The portals were only on
Watson’s website for approx
imately three days, Brown
ing said.
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