At a special-called meeting Thursday evening, the Guyton City Council announced the findings of the city’s ethics committee in an ongoing saga involving a City Councilman Theodore Hamby.
At the center of the complaint was the political endorsement and receipt of funds for support of a candidate for Tax Commissioner by Guyton City Councilman Theodore Hamby. The complaint alleged that Hamby 1) solicited both Kelly Hoffner and Daniel Rodewolt for money for his business in exchange for his endorsement as a Guyton city councilman and 2) endorsed Kelly Hoffner in her campaign for Tax Commissioner, sought publication of the endorsement, and wanted to ensure that the endorsement was made in his official capacity as ‘Guyton City Councilman Theodore Hamby’ which he rescinded upon receiving additional funds from her opponent.
The ethics committee convened July 9 to review evidence and hear testimony from the complainants and Hamby himself. The hearing was, while brief, was overshadowed by disorder, yelling, personal insults, and irrelevant information prompting the intervention of the Guyton Police Department. Members ultimately opted to defer in making a decision on the spot and instead drafted formal findings to present to council. Those findings were presented Tuesday, July 16 and the matter was added to an agenda for an already-scheduled called council meeting.
During Thursday’s meeting, council had the duty to review the findings of the committee and consider taking action on any recommendations, if it felt it was appropriate.
Findings of Ethics Committee
Member Robert Hunter’s conclusions read that he believes “Hamby violated the City of Guyton Code of Ethics Ordinance No 2020-03” regarding the use of city facilities for private purposes and the use of his position to coerce or give the appearance of coercing another person to provide financial benefit for himself.
Member Reginald Stanmar wrote that he determined there to be a technical violation of the ordinance based on the evidence submitted with the complaint and the testimony.
Commentary from Council
Councilman Hamby arrived nine minutes into the meeting. Mayor Andy Harville informed him that they were discussing the ethics matter and that he needed to recuse himself from any voting matter. Hamby opted to leave and go into city offices at the other end of the building.
Harville then reviewed the document provided by the committee, highlighting the conclusions. Council members had already been provided with a copy.
Councilman Michael Johnson said Hamby acted inappropriately when he took pictures with Hoffner in front of city hall and gave the public the impression that the city was backing a candidate for public office. “That shows a technical violation of the ordinance,” Johnson said.
Councilman Joseph Lee echoed Johnson’s sentiments and said Hamby violated city policy. “I agree 100%. He violated the city policy by taking the pictures of the sign making people think the city was endorsing them. The city did not have nothing to do with that,” he said. “I agree he violated.”
Councilman Jeremiah Chancey said he had reviewed the evidence but also watched the ethics committee hearing.
“Based on the finding of coercion, I don’t personally feel – after reviewing all the information – that coercion happened because coercion requires force or threat and I don’t think he forced them or threatened them to pay him to endorse him. My problem is that it was clear that he was trying to leverage his position as a member of city council for the financial benefit of his business. This is evidenced by the fact that on numerous occasions he contacted them about making sure that everything said ‘Guyton City councilman.’ Everything had to say Guyton city councilman. It’s further supported by the fact that when he posted the endorsement, he posted it from his city council Facebook page, which at that time, did not have the disclaimer that he does not speak for the city. It said that it was his official city council Facebook page and it did not have the disclaimer that it does now. If he wanted it to be solely about the business, he would have posted it from his personal or the business Facebook page. And so, it’s clear to me and what I found he violated was that ‘city officials may not use their position for financial gain either of an entity in which they own an interest for their own personal benefit.’ I think it’s clear that in this situation, he was trying to leverage his position for financial benefit,” Chancey said.
Harville responded that he agreed and that it’s based on the facts as well as what the committee returned in terms of a decision.
Action by Council
Council had three options: censure Hamby, ask him to resign, or both. If the council opted to ask Hamby to resign, he would not be required to do so.
“Something has to be done. The behavior has to change, it’s not acceptable,” Chancey said. “There needs to be some kind of corrective action to put him on a better pathway forward or move him onward.”
Councilman Lee made a motion to have Hamby make a formal apology, which was not an option for council action. The motion was seconded by Johnson, who added that the apology would need to be posted and the city include a censure. The motion, which, by Robert’s Rules of Order, was inappropriately amended by Johnson, failed in a 2-2 vote.
Councilman Chancey then made a motion to ask Hamby to resign. “He’s got to have some kind of wake up call,” he said. The motion was seconded by Harville. It also failed 2-2.
Chancey then said they would meet halfway. Lee made a motion to censure Hamby via a written reprimand and to make a formal recommendation that Hamby make a public apology. It was seconded by Johnson and passed 4-0.
Read the article with supporting evidence on the initial complaint against Hamby.
Read the article detailing the ethics committee hearing on July 9 here.
