Ethics complaints filed against city officials | News

An ethics complaint filed this week asks whether a city council can fill their post on Muskogee’s nine-member board of directors on the basis of alleged business interests.

A complaint filed on Monday alleges that Ward II alderman Alex Reynolds is banned from serving as a community official due to his ownership interests in a medical cannabis business. Reynolds has been identified, upon application by the Muskogee Tourism Authority, as a director of 918 Roots, a limited liability company that owns a pharmacy on South Main Street.

Reynolds denied having any interest in a medical cannabis business, saying claims to the contrary were “dead wrong”. Reynolds paid tribute to his advocacy for the industry, which has generated nearly $ 51 million in state and local tax revenue since January, but said he does not hold a commercial license for medicinal cannabis.

“I made this clear to the city attorney, I made this clear to the city manager, and I made this clear with tourism,” Reynolds said. “Anyone who shaped my name in any way has misled the public.”

The complaint filed by Mark Hughes and Phenicia Chaidez was sent to Mayor Marlon Coleman on Monday. The complaint relates to government regulations prohibiting community officials from holding a commercial license for a medical cannabis business located within the confines of the community in which a public official was elected or appointed.

The complainants cite five concerns in the letter to Coleman, which will determine how to proceed. The code of ethics, passed by city councils in 2017, does not provide for procedures for complaints from local residents – compliance and enforcement are handled by “members of the city council, boards of directors and commissions of Muskogee”.

Prosecutor Roy Tucker said that doesn’t mean the concerns Hughes and Chaidez raised in their complaint will go unanswered. He said that all citizen complaints will be investigated.

“There is no formal mechanism for the public to file a complaint, but even if there are no rules, they will be examined,” Tucker said. “Since this complaint went to the mayor, he will decide what to do.”

Tucker said he was asked what impact Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority regulations and state law could have on city councils and other people considered local officials. Tucker said he hadn’t commented on the request, but former Ward I alderman Patrick Cale, who owns the medical cannabis industry, stepped down to secure a license.

Hughes and Chaidez identified Tucker in a separate complaint, citing concerns about the ethical guidelines and procedures established for compliance and enforcement. They cite Tucker’s main concern of investigating the alleged wrongdoing of those empowered to influence the future of his employment.

Tucker, a councilor, is subject to annual reviews. The councilors have sole power to determine the terms of his compensation and benefits package or whether he will continue to serve as a Muskogee City employee.

The code of ethics instructs the city attorney to “fully investigate” any matter and to report to city councils on the findings of his investigation upon completion of an investigation. Hughes said organizational responsibilities and personal relationships could affect any investigation conducted by Tucker or his office and skew the results presented to city councils.

“The city of Muskogee must have a real ethical policy – right now it’s built on a house of cards,” said Hughes. “The mayor and council are playing charades on it now – it’s obviously flawed and I’ll do everything I can to make sure that changes.”

Tucker, as a city attorney, said the duty he owed was “to the city, not to the councilors.” The ethical rules, he said, were “imposed by city councils themselves” because they did not exist before.

He said the city councils would decide how to conduct an investigation into a complaint filed against him or his office.