Mayor's Ethics Hearing Tonight
The hearing involving Mayor Mark Mathews will be held at 6 p.m. at the Ben Robertson Community Center.
A hearing is scheduled for tonight regarding an ethics complaint filed against Kennesaw Mayor Mark Mathews.
Local resident David Ermutlu filed the complaint with the city clerk's office, alleging that the mayor uses city equipment for other business and that he has been facilitating meetings between his employer and the city manager.
Ermutlu said that Mathews' use of his city-provided iPhone and iPad to do business for MetroAtlanta Ambulance is a violation of the city's ordinances. According to Mathews' biography on the city's website, he serves as Manager of Government Relations for the ambulance service.
Ermutlu also said that Mathews set up meetings with the president and vice president of MetroAtlanta Ambulanceand City Manager Steve Kennedy to get information from the city's 911 Center, which serves Kennesaw and Acworth. According to Mathews' biography, his job responsibilities at the ambulance service include building relationships with elected and non-elected officials while keeping officials informed on EMS-related issues.
At the city council's meeting last week, Ermutlu called for Mathews' resignation. Ermutlu said during the meeting that Mathews "tried to lure me into a private meeting" in which to discuss the charges. He also said he plans to forward photographs which display the text conversation in question to the ethics committee.
"The sum total of events that have transpired over these past five months have caused me to lose faith in Mayor Mathews to fulfill his duty in an unbiased, fair, and ethical manner," Ermutlu said last week. "I therefore must respectfully request that Mayor Mathews submit his resignation."
The ethics hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Ben Robertson Community Center. Kennesaw Patch will be there and bring you the story Wednesday morning.
Rick Paul
10:42 am on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Who is Emutlu? Does the phone have unlimited text?
Cady Schulman
12:31 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
David Ermutlu is a local resident. I'm not sure if the phone has unlimited texting. Perhaps that will be something asked at tonight's hearing?
Curious
5:20 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
If he set up a meeting with the CITY's 911 center... wouldn't that BE city business?
Candace cole
6:12 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
In a day where technology is so prevalent and day usage is unlimited- it is not feasible to have one piece of equipment for private use and another for business. All if us have overlapping issues.
Mayor Mathews is an extremely ethical person. I have no doubt that he did not cross any lines. It is tiring to continually deal with people trying to cause problems rather than resolve them.
Join a committee or something. Be a solution in our community.