The next executive director of the Columbus-Lowndes Recreation Authority could be facing a conflict of interest because he also serves on the Columbus Municipal School Board, according to the CLRA board attorney.
Greg Lewis will become CLRA director on Jan. 1, when Roger Short retires from the post. In February, the Columbus city council appointed Lewis to a five-year term on the CMSD school board.
Lewis has previously said he is undecided on whether he would resign from the school board. He could not be reached for comment for this story.
Nonetheless, Will Cooper, attorney for the CLRA board, said he has discussed a potential conflict of interest with Lewis.
“My concern is that the CLRA has several leases with the city school system,” Cooper said. “I have not performed the legal research. However, I have dealt with similar issues in advising other boards.”
The CLRA has two leases with the city school district, Short told The Dispatch on Friday.
The recreation authority has an annual $1 lease on the soccer fields on the campus of Joe Cook Elementary Fine Arts Magnet School. The authority also rents the Hunt Gymnasium for $1 a year. The high school is no longer open but the CLRA uses the facility for “open play” and a youth basketball league, Short said.
Chris Hemphill, a lawyer with Dunn and Hemphill, the firm employed by the school district, said it would be up to Lewis to resign from the school board if he felt there was a potential conflict.
“It’s not really up to the school board to make that decision,” Hemphill said Friday. “It’s one that Mr. Lewis will have to make. He would be the one violating the law if there was a conflict.”
Hemphill said he has not explored the possibility of a conflict of interest, but noted that Lewis has abstained from school board votes pertaining to CLRA in the past.
However, with his new impending position, Hemphill said, “With his change to be the head, I’m sure he’ll have to take a hard look at it now.”
Sarah Fowler covered crime, education and community related events for The Dispatch.
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