Ethics Complaint Filed Against Dist. 4 Candidate

Cindy J. Mills, a candidate for the District 4 seat on the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners, admits she failed to disclose information on her personal financial disclosure report, but said it was an honest mistake and that the problem already has been corrected.

Cumming resident Julie Nurnberg filed the complaint with the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission (see the PDF to the right of the complaint) which states, "Ms. Mills did not disclose that she is a founder and incorporator of Forsyth County Parks Foundation, Inc." and "did not disclose her fiduciary position as an officer of Forsyth County Parks Foundation, Inc."

Mills helped start the non-profit organization that was incorporated two years ago to help raise funds for county parks projects. She also is the foundation's chief financial officer.

She said she was not aware the foundation had been incorporated and as soon as she discovered it, she corrected the oversight on her financial disclosure report.

"Bill Mulrooney brought it to my attention on the Focus on Forsyth Facebook page and I immediately contacted the ethics commission and filed a correction," Mills said Saturday.

"It's my fault, I'm not going to make excuses, but as far as me trying to hide something, that is absolutely preposterous. Why would I try to hide the fact that I'm part of a nonprofit that is trying to do something wonderful for the county?"

Mills, is in a heated race against incumbent Patrick Bell and challengers Mulrooney, Charles Meagher and Tim Hubbard.

She said the complaint is just another example of gotcha politics and appears to have been filed by the supporter of another candidate.

Bell said he had no prior knowledge of the complaint and he provided a written statement to Cumming Patch, which read:

"It is an unfortunate situation but the law is very clear on what we have to report. There is no ambiguity or vagueness to the law or instructions printed right on the financial disclosures. As a public official, or a candidate, we have to be extremely transparent to the citizens - who are the ones to which we are accountable. While I can sympathize with Ms. Mills over her ethics violation, each of us must be personally responsible for our actions. It is up to us individually to insure we follow all laws and accept the consequences if we don’t. I think the citizens want, and deserve, personally responsible people in positions of leadership.

The Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission will not pursue the complaint until after the July 31 election.

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