Columbus businessman David Shelton has filed a complaint with the Mississippi Ethics Commission against Columbus Ward 2 Councilman Gene Taylor.
Shelton’s complaint, filed Tuesday, is based on the city council’s June 16 decision to re-appoint Brandy Gardner to the city’s utilities board. Taylor was among three councilmen to vote for Gardner.
A 3-3 council tie was broken by Mayor Robert Smith, who voted to return Gardner to a second term. Shelton, who had served three previous terms on the board, was the only other applicant for the position.
Shelton said Thursday he filed the grievance because he believes Taylor violated ethics rules in participating in the vote on Gardner’s bid for the position.
“We believe that Taylor should not have voted because his wife is an employee of Columbus Light & Water,” said Shelton, who also noted that Smith should not have cast a tie-breaking vote because he has a child who works at CL&W.
If Taylor has recused himself — as he did in 2009 when a utility board appointment came before the council — Gardner’s re-appointment would have failed by a 3-2 vote. That would have opened the possibility of the council voting on Shelton’s appointment.
“They knew they weren’t supposed to vote,” Shelton told The Dispatch this morning.
Asked after the June 16 meeting why he did not recuse himself from the utility board vote, Taylor declined to comment.
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