City Law Director Garry Hunter is a landlord and works for the city of Nelsonville. City Councilwoman Nancy Bain teaches at Ohio University. City Prosecutor Lisa Eliason, who is responsible for prosecuting landlords, reports to the Law Director. Councilwoman Carol Patterson is a property owner herself.
Athens is a town of multitaskers, but does that necessarily mean they have conflicts of interest?
In larger areas, there are plenty of qualified people to fill city positions without allowing any individual to fill opposing jobs. But, as
Patterson pointed out in a story in Monday's Post, when conflict of interest is carried to the extreme, it includes everyone.
This might be true, but its pervasiveness does not excuse the fact that it can, and probably has, caused ethical conflicts.
When the council was preparing to vote on the retirement center, serious questions arose because some of the members of council work for the university and were voting on an issue that dealt specifically with the university. Their opinions, no matter what they said, clearly were influenced by their dual roles.
And whether Hunter says he advises the council without bias, the fact that he owns property means that he will be averse to harsher punishments for landlords.
We're not questioning the integrity of city employees, but the possibility to be unfairly swayed by secondary employment is far too rampant. We don't believe that there are not enough people to fill these positions without creating unnecessary conflicts.
This might be a small town, but surely it isn't so small that it should rest in the hands of so few.
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Overlapping city and university positions cause some residents to question ethics
