After Violating State Law, Canton Reschedules Ethics Hearing

The city of Canton's ethics committee has scheduled another hearing to determine if a complaint against City Manager Glen Cummins should move forward.

The committee, made up of City Council members Sandy McGrew and Jack Goodwin and City Attorney Bobby Dyer, will meet at 4 p.m. Wednesday, July 23 at Canton City Hall.

Next week's meeting comes on the heels of a meeting held earlier this week, which was in violation of state law since it was not properly advertised. 

The city notified the press at 3 p.m. Tuesday, July 15 of the meeting, which started at 4 p.m. 

For meetings not held on a regular basis, the Georgia Open Meetings Act requires agencies to post the time, place and date of the meeting for at least 24 hours at the meeting location and to give written or oral notice at least 24 hours in advance to the county legal organ or newspaper with equal circulation.

The Act defines meeting as the "gathering of a quorum of the members of the governing body of an agency, any committee of the members of the governing body of an agency, or any committee created by such governing body."

Resident Andy Potts, who told Patch he also was not notified of the initial meeting, submitted the complaint last month against Cummins, who was serving as both interim city manager and Ward 3 councilman at the time. 

Potts notes Cummins should not have been allowed to participate in the city manager search process and the council member should have resigned his seat before tossing his name into the pool of applicants. 

"The fact that Mr. Cummins did not enter his resume into the running from the beginning has a direct impact on his compensation," Potts wrote in his complaint. "This created a situation where Mr. Cummins had influence in the city manager selection process and then financially gained from the disqualification of the sole candidate, Mr. Billy Peppers. Not only did it lengthen the time he was acting city manager, which is more financial gain, but it also opened himself up for the position."

Despite the pending complaint, the Canton City Council earlier this month voted to appoint Cummins as its city manager.