An ethics complaint against three Homer City Council members, originally lodged by the constitutional group Heartbeat of Homer on July 3, will go forward into the judicial process, at least through October.
The complaint says the three council members should have declared a conflict of interest instead of voting to essentially certify the results of the June 13 recall, where all of them prevailed in the polls in a controversial special election. To opponents of the recall effort, it may seem like a picky detail set upon by a disgruntled few. But to Homer conservatives, it’s a matter of holding firm on the conduct of public officials.
The original complaint against council members Donna Aderhold, David Lewis and Catriona Reynolds became tangled because it was made public to KBBI radio, which was a violation of a Homer city code guranteeing confidentiality of ethics complaints.
Homer City Code 2.80.040 states “a person filing a complaint of potential violation shall keep confidential the fact that the person has filed the complaint with the city, as well as the contents of the complaint of potential violation.” A complaint under this guidance would be dismissed if made public.
A second ethics complaint, essentially the same as the first, was then filed by Homer resident Larry Zuccaro and was kept confidential until the three respondents decided to allow it to be made public this week.
The three council members have hired an attorney.and a final decision from the judge is expected by mid-November. Opening briefs in the case are due Oct. 2.
The council members waived confidentiality, which allows the complaints to now speak to the media about their grievances, if they choose.
Glad to see someone is keeping an eye on those lawless council members. If they just followed the law, we wouldn’t have all these problems
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