For the Record-

In October, 2012, I filed an ethics claim against Commissioner Birrell. The heart of the complaint was the Commissioner sharing emails with a local civic/lobbyist group without the knowledge of the sender. The Commissioner and her attorney submitted a brief that contained false information, and was intended to be 'persuasive'. Georgia Code 16-10-71 states, "A person to whom a lawful oath or affirmation has been administered or who executes a document knowing that it purports to be an acknowledgment of a lawful oath or affirmation commits the offense of false swearing when, in any matter or thing other than a judicial proceeding, he knowingly and willfully makes a false statement." The Ethics Board dismissed the claim, primarily because the information was not filed in a timely fashion. Under Cobb County Code, an ethic claim must be submitted within six months of the infraction; essentially, an elected official can break the ethics code if they are discreet enough to keep it under wraps for six months.

Commissioner Birrell forwarded emails from me concerning my variance request to the president of the East Cobb Civic Association, a civic/lobbyist organization that openly states, "The ECCA Board and members influence the Cobb County government's decisions, initiatives, and zoning and variance rulings that impact East Cobb communities." She states that this is "the standard practice of every Commissioner serving in that role". I question the ethics of the Commissioners routinely supplying information to a group to whose goal is to influence county policy. The information that was passed on was not specifically asked for; it was sent to the group with a 'FYI' attachment. Our Commissioners have the trust of the residents to represent them in a fair and unbiased way; my trust was broken when she sent my email, without my knowledge, to a group that lobbied against my variance request. Volunteering such information gives the appearance the Commissioner had taken the role of activist. If indeed this sharing of information is the custom of the Commissioners, I think that it should stop on ethical grounds. Groups and individuals have other avenues for the information that do not put the Commissioners in questionable positions.

According to the GBI report requested by DA Vic Reynolds and Sheriff Neil Warren, county paid attorney Fred Bentley, Jr. wrote the Brief that Commissioner Birrell swore to in an affidavit as true and correct information. Attorney Bentley told the GBI that he 'intended the Brief as a persuasive document'. Commissioner Birrell admitted to the GBI that some of information in the Brief was not accurate. Regardless of this and other evidence, DA Reynolds concludes that no criminal acts occurred. I am disappointed that the County aggressively prosecutes common residents for the most minor offenses, but turns its head when a sitting Commissioner breaks not just the State law, but the trust of the people.

I do not believe that Commissioner Birrell is a bad person. She was sworn into office just six months before all of this started; she was a rookie. She probably did not consider the questionable ethics of the customs presented to her by the previous Commissioner, Chairman Tim Lee. She may have just scanned the Briefs written by Attorney Bentley, without thinking about fact-checking. Surely she trusted that he was operating fully within the law, and would not put her in a compromising position. None the less, the Ethics Board was given a sworn Brief with false information, and that is not legal under Georgia state law.

I am sorry that the Commissioner thinks that it is a waste of taxpayer money to insure an honest and transparent government. I think that spending $4.8 million dollars for a transit study is a waste of taxpayer money. If she had not hired her attorney maybe the Brief would have been less 'persuasive' and more factual. The Commissioners are elected by the people to run the affairs of our county government; it is our duty to watch over them and insure that they are living up to the oath of office that they took. I stand by my actions, and will continue to watch over and participate in our local government- an activity that more residents should take up. Chairman Lee has recently been asking for more public involvement in our county government, and I agree with him. I hope he is more prepared for their involvement than his successor.