Members of the College Park City Council voted this month to allow candidates to post political signs on commercial properties during city elections, amending its election and ethics codes to prevent ambiguities like the one that put the mayor and two councilmen before the city’s ethics commission.
Last year, a citizen filed a complaint that Mayor Stephen Brayman and District 1 Councilmen John Krouse and David Milligan violated the code, which prohibits businesses from making direct or indirect campaign contributions. The seven-person ethics commission ruled last March that no violation occurred, but the charges revealed gray areas in the city’s election code.
In a 7-1 vote Jan. 11, the council changed its election codes so posting political signs on commercial property would not be considered campaign contributions as long as the signs were purchased, put up and maintained exclusively by the candidate.
Former councilman Peter King, who led the special committee examining changes to the codes, recommended the council avoid attempts to micromanage the permitted size or number of signs. By allowing the signs with a few simple conditions as well as applying county rules, the city could avoid more ambiguities and legal problems, he said.
“I am in favor of keeping us out of the swamps and out of the minefield,” King said.However, Ethics Commission Chairman Forrest Tyler spoke out against the change, fearing it would invite business owners to “seek special advantages” with candidates by allowing them to use their properties at a time when the city is experiencing rapid commercial growth.
The council also voted 7-1 to allow the ethics commission to dismiss cases in which code ambiguities make it impossible to determine if a violation occurred — preventing the commission from being deadlocked and allowing it to direct the council to fix the problem.
Former commission chairman Cliff Bedore said the changes did not alter the way members were appointed or removed from the commission, preferring that the entire council vote to remove a sitting member of the commission instead of leaving the decision up to the mayor.
Bedore accused Brayman of abusing his power when the mayor chose not to reappoint Bedore to the commission in June. The former chairman claimed he was dismissed because he had voted against Brayman, Milligan and Krouse during the commission hearings.
But Brayman said Bedore had not performed all his duties as chairman and had especially neglected educating the council and candidates about the city’s codes.Tyler supported Bedore, citing that the commission asked the city manager every year to budget money for ethics education and was “rebuffed” each year.
“We were never asking for perpetual appointments,” Tyler said. “Certain commissioners felt they were being attacked personally … We shouldn’t allow just one person to say your commission can’t be renewed.”
King said the ethics commission had addressed Bedore’s complaint in closed hearings, but the allegations were “not germane” to the changes being considered.
