An ethics charge made by one member of the Hampton City Council against another was dismissed by the city’s ethics committee.
The committee voted 5-0 after a February 26 hearing that Stephanie Bodie did not commit an ethics violation as alleged by Elton Brown. Bodie said after the hearing that Brown accused her of sending an email regarding a former city employee for the purpose of making it a public record. She maintained that she made a legitimate request for information, and she did not mention the employee by name when discussing it with the Times.
“I’m thankful for the process,” she said of the hearing. “I hate that it cost the citizens so much money. We had to pay for attorney and the time. I’m also thankful for the committee. They’re all volunteers, they meet quite often and they’ve gotten this process going.”
Bodie was elected to the council in 2017 along with Errol Mitchell and Willie Turner to four-year terms. Brown won a special election in 2017 to serve two years of an unexpired term. The four of them joined Henry Byrd and Ann Tarpley on the council in January of 2018 along with Mayor Steve Hutchison, who was re-elected in 2017.
Bodie and Byrd have been on the losing end of more than a dozen 4-2 votes over the past 14 months, and the time has been tumultuous with the council already hiring and firing a city manager who has hinted that he will seek further legal action against the city. There have been numerous personnel and budgetary decisions that have been questioned by citizens, and at the most recent public meeting the council voted to give $100,000 to the city’s Downtown Development Authority but refused to speak publicly about it.
Bodie said she did not believe any existing council unrest was a factor in Brown’s decision to file the ethics charge. She simply stressed at the hearing her position as a public servant.
“I represent the people,” she said. “We conform to the Georgia state constitution just like all public officials do.”
She emphasized that point by reading a passage from the Georgia Municipal Association’s Handbook for Georgia Mayors and Councilmembers that included this statement from the state’s constitution:
“Government is instituted for the protection, security and benefit of the people, and at all times they have the right to alter or reform the same whenever the public good may require it.”
She followed that with a further reading from the handbook:
“These words in the Georgia Constitution are the starting point for any consideration of Georgia’s laws on open meetings and open records. They are a reminder that government is created by and for the people to promote the common good and that public officials and employees are the servants, not the masters. Public servants are expected to execute their duties in an honest and trustworthy manner that can be reviewed, judged and critiqued by the people. The only way the people can regulate their government is if they know what it is doing.”
Bodie said that in her work on the council, she is trying to follow the law and be totally honest. She was glad her initial action that led to the ethics charge was in an email and not a phone call. “They can change your words if it’s a phone call, but they can’t if it’s in writing.”
She looks forward to increased openness at City Hall through such developments as the recent decision to air council meetings on YouTube.
“Not everyone can attend in person and this is helpful,” she said. “It’s important for people to know what’s going on in their government.”
