Southpinellas: Is conflict in his future?

Is conflict in his future?

By MAUREEN BYRNE AHERN

SEMINOLE -- Jimmy Johnson says he doesn't mind that the City Council wants to know if his job as chamber director could pose a conflict of interest if he is elected to office.

He says he just wonders why it's an issue now -- two weeks before the city election. After all, he says, he announced his candidacy nearly two months ago.

"I have a problem with the timing," Johnson, 60, said Monday. "The timing is what bothers me."

Johnson, executive director of the Greater Seminole Area Chamber of Commerce, is running for one of three seats in the March 4 election. He says he knew his job could cause some questions. If elected, he says, he would recuse himself from any discussions or votes involving the chamber.

Council members voted 6-1 last week to hire attorney John Hubbard to seek an opinion on the matter from the state Ethics Commission. Council member Paul Trexler voted against the motion. A response could take up to 30 days.

Hubbard, who has a private practice in Dunedin, works as city attorney for three municipalities in Pinellas County. Hubbard will ask the Ethics Commission its opinion on a business chamber's board members or staff sitting on a board of elected officials. No current council members serve on the chamber's board of directors, but some have in the past. Council member Janet Long said she recently resigned from the chamber's board of directors because of personal reasons.

Mayor Dottie Reeder said the city asked Hubbard to contact the Ethics Commission rather than Seminole City Attorney John Elias because Elias is past president of the Greater Seminole Area Chamber of Commerce. Elias was the chamber president when he gave Johnson that advice.

"The council would just be relieved to have another body make that opinion," Reeder said Tuesday.

Reeder asked City Manager Frank Edmunds to contact Hubbard after he conducted an ethics seminar for the council this month. Reeder says she thinks Johnson would be a good council member if elected, but there are questions that need to be answered.

Will the city have to end its financial contract with the chamber? The city makes an annual $20,000 contribution to the Business Assistance Program, a partnership of the city, Pinellas County and the chamber designed to help small- to medium-sized businesses.

Would a business relationship of that sort be unethical if a top official at the chamber serves on the City Council?

If a chamber member came before the council for a decision, such as a zoning change, would that pose a conflict of interest if the chamber's director is on the council?

Johnson, a retired Kmart Corp. manager whom chamber members once named Mr. Seminole, was hired in August 2000 as the chamber's executive director. If elected, he said, he would keep his job. And if issues did come up concerning the chamber, he said, he would abstain from voting.

Johnson wonders what makes his situation any different than that of council member Bob Matthews, who worked for Florida Power until recently. When city business with the utility company came before the council, such as contract renewals, Matthews would abstain from any discussion or vote.

"I don't see a conflict," Matthews said of Johnson's situation. "But there is so much talk about this, let's get an answer."

Long agrees. "I'm very glad that we are getting an opinion on this from the Ethics Commission, because without it every single vote that Jimmy makes, should he be on the council, will be subject to scrutiny."

Clearwater Mayor Brian Aungst came under some heat when he ran for mayor in 1999. His position as Time Warner's regional director of government relations and public affairs drew scrutiny from some opponents and residents.

Aungst said during the campaign that no conflict would exist. He appointed a liaison at Time Warner to deal with all Clearwater business and recuses himself from any discussions about Time Warner or its competitor, GTE.

In Treasure Island, Mayor Leon Atkinson and Commissioner Butch Ellsworth were accused last year by two former residents of using their position to push through land development rules. The complaint alleged that the two city officials voted in favor of land development regulations that could bring them profit. Atkinson owns properties along the strip of Gulf Boulevard made more developable by the new rules. Ellsworth manages John's Pass Marina for the Rice family, Treasure Island's largest land owner.

An assistant attorney general ruled last week there is no probable cause to consider ethics violations against them. Atkinson and Ellsworth said that despite the recommendation, they will travel to Tallahassee to defend themselves before the Ethics Commission.

-- Times files were used in this report.