Athens City Council passed two ordinances that permit development of a highly debated retirement community by two 3-0 votes last week, after an opinion from the Ohio Ethics Commission discouraged three members from voting because they work for Ohio University.
OU officials plan to lease land for the National Church Residences retirement center on Stimson Avenue for $1 annually.
Jennifer Hardin, chief advisory attorney for the ethics commission, recommended Dec. 23 that three council members involved in her inquiry - Democrats Nancy Bain, 3rd Ward, Dale Tampke, at-large, and Paul Wiehl, 1st Ward - not vote on the two ordinances, which permit the development of the center and grant the developer a license to use a city right of way on Morris Avenue.
Those three members have conflicts of interest because the university has a definite and direct interest in the matter
Hardin said. The ethics commission offered the opinion at the request of City Law Director Garry Hunter. Advisory opinions are not binding but are entitled to weight by the courts and have been used in past judicial decisions, according to the opinion.
Former D-at-large Councilwoman Sarah Sexton, an OU graduate student, also was included in the inquiry but was found not to have a conflict of interest because an employee-employer relationship is significantly different than a student-university relationship, Hardin said.
Sexton and council members Carol Patterson, formerly D-2nd Ward, and Jim Sands, D-at-large, passed the controversial ordinances at a special meeting Dec. 29.
Councilwoman Deborah Phillips, D-4th Ward, was not discouraged from voting by the commission but missed the meeting because she traveled out of town for the holidays. The absence had nothing to do with personal political opinions, Phillips said.
The three-person vote constituted the quorum needed to hold a meeting, the majority required to pass the vote and the super majority needed to pass the ordinances because of changes made from the original version offered by the planning commission, Hunter said.
Sexton and Tampke have since left council because their terms expired. New terms began for OU student Amy Flowers, D-at-large, and OU professor Bojinka Bishop, D-2nd Ward.
Despite the new composition of council, the recommendation for university employees to abstain from voting again would apply if a similar situation occurs in which the university has a direct interest or benefits in a way different from a majority of the community, Hardin said.
But the advisory opinion does not set a precedent because it was based on previous opinions from the ethics commission, she said.
Councilwoman Bain said she is unsure how she would have voted if the opinion had not recommended against it but added that she is relieved that Council is finished with its part in the process.
Am I glad that it's over? Yes without a doubt she said.
Councilman Sands expressed similar relief but said he is not ruling out the possibility that opponents of the retirement community might take legal action in response to the vote.
I know there are citizens who are displeased with that action
and I wish that weren't so
Sands said.
Mayor Ric Abel said he hopes the law director will request more information about how the advisory opinion might affect other Council decisions or votes on other city commissions.
I think everybody in the community is asking 'What do we do now if this stands
as is
without further clarification
' he said, adding that the ramifications of the opinion could be far-reaching because the city and university work together frequently.
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