Is It A Conflict?
| Not a day goes by that someone doesn't ask me, isn't
it a conflict of interest for Eddie Simpson, a Lenoir City councilman,
to run for county commission. The answer is no. As a councilman, Simpson
can run for any other office he wants. The appropriate question is,
would it be a conflict of interest if Simpson were to win the election
and want to hold the office of city councilman and county commissioner?
Probably so. It's known as the common law doctrine.
Simpson has told everyone that will listen, that he plans to hold both offices if elected to county commission. The common law doctrine of incompatible public offices, which applies to both state and local public offices, prevents a person from holding two public offices at the same time if “the occupancy of both offices by the same person is detrimental to the public interest, or whether the performance of the duties of one interferes with the performance of those of the other.” If the individual holds two public offices, then the incompatibility doctrine may deem the first position vacated when the second position was taken. There's no doubt that one person serving as a Lenoir City councilman and a Loudon County commissioner at the same time would be detrimental to the public interest and huge conflict of interest. The potential conflicts are endless. So, would it be a conflict of interest if Simpson to hold both offices? It would ultimately be a legal question that would have to be answered in court. It's my intention to help everybody involved by preventing Eddie Simpson from ever being elected to county commission. Therefore preventing any conflict of interest. I'd sure appreciate your support in preventing this conflict of interest from ever happening. None of us could afford it. |
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3/7/22