Maples should be allowed to run

Each city council member and the mayor are on the LCUB board, get paid and receive insurance and perhaps other benefits for doing so. Is each and every member of city council an employee of the city? Should they be prohibited from running for re-election? How is that any different from Maples being a paid employee of LCUB?

I find nothing in Tennessee Code Annotated or in the Lenoir City code defining city employee. Are the members of Lenoir City Council paid for their work as a city council member or mayor? Are they paid by LCUB for their work on the LCUB board? I’ve tried to find something to indicate whether there is a distinction between an elected official and a regular employee as it relates to the definition, but I’ve found nothing.

This matter comes before the election commission Monday to determine if Maples’ name will be placed on the ballot. I think the election commission should review Attorney General Opinion 98-130 from July 27, 1998. It involves whether a utility board employee can serve as mayor or council member in LaFollette. The conclusion appears to me that the answer is “yes.” They must abstain from voting on any issue that benefits them personally, but in other matters they can vote as long as they read a conflict of interest statement as required by TCA 12-4-101(c)(1).

If this is upheld, there are a large number of residents within the city limits who cannot run for public office. I wonder if Lenoir City will take this to chancery court if the election commission allows Maples’ name to stay on the ballot? Many Lenoir City voters are watching.

Connie L. Sledzinski

Lenoir City