The 48-page report by attorney Tom A. Peterson IV from his investigation into whether a majority of Statesboro City Council members privately met with former City Manager Frank Parker in violation of the Georgia Open Meetings Act reveals no undisputed smoking gun that this occurred.

“It does not appear that any member of the Council or Parker committed any misdemeanor violation pursuant to (the Open Meetings Act),” Peterson wrote in his conclusion. “Thus, it does not appear that the investigation should be referred to the Attorney General of Georgia for consideration.”

However, the investigation provides a glimpse into more than three years of reported social gatherings of several council members, at times with Parker, at Atlanta restaurants while attending Georgia Municipal Association conferences. On these occasions, Parker has asserted, city business was discussed.

But the council members’ statements generally dispute this.

The report, and a few of the 974 typed, double-spaced pages of interview transcripts on which it is based, also present accounts of a private lunch meeting held in Statesboro in April recognizing the conclusion of a city contract project, described by Parker as Phase 1 of the Julius Abraham Trail project. Parker and council members Will Britt, Travis Chance and John Riggs attended.

“And the city manager, me, and three councilmen were there discussing that project going forward for Phase Two,” Parker told Peterson in an interview, according to his report and the transcript.

Three council members make a quorum of the five-member City Council, and for a quorum of the council to discuss city business at a gathering to which the public was not invited would be an Open Meetings violation.

However, Peterson reports that the council members “and everyone else at the luncheon, either denied discussing city business … or did not recall if the Councilmen or Parker discussed or presented anything about the project or other city business.”

The luncheon is described in the report as an “appreciation luncheon,” hosted by private engineer Wesley Parker, in vacant office space.

In addition to private engineers and all three council members, Peterson interviewed then-city engineer, now-Interim City Manager Robert Cheshire; construction company owner Chris Merrill; Downtown Statesboro Development Authority Executive Director Allen Muldrew; and others about the luncheon.

In the report and transcript, Britt described the table talk as “kind of a general chit chat about the project came under budget, and we were able to extend the sidewalk further than the original budget was, it was congratulatory.”

In that context, Britt might have said, he told Peterson, “that this is the first piece that connects Gentilly to Georgia Southern to downtown, it’s awesome, we look forward to connectivity for anything else.” But Britt said he did not see this as inappropriate.

Parker also reported that, after a regular City Council meeting in January, he saw council members Phil Boyum, Britt, Chance and Riggs gather, while still at City Hall, and agree to stand firm in overriding vetoes by Mayor Jan Moore.

“In contrast, the Councilmen denied ever discussing or deciding city policy in private,” Peterson wrote.

GMA trips

Other allegations of improper meetings probed in the investigation involve out-of-town trips to Georgia Municipal Association events. While dining first at Ted’s Montana Grill in Atlanta during the 2011 GMA conference, Britt, Chance, Riggs, former council member the late Tommy Blitch and former Mayor Joe Brannen discussed general business, according to Peterson’s characterization of Parker’s statements. However, Peterson noted that what Parker reported was his own presentation of “matters such as finances and personnel,” not a discussion by the council members.

Again, “Britt, Chance and Riggs denied privately discussing city business with a quorum of the Council in such social settings.”

Similarly disputed discussions from 2010, 2012 and 2013 GMA trips are described in the report.

Also at the 2011 conference, Parker reported that Brannen, Blitch, Britt, Chance, Riggs and “maybe” Councilman Gary Lewis met in a room of an Atlanta hotel and discussed city greenway and sidewalk projects.

“Chance and Riggs denied participating … and Britt did not recall the gathering,” the report states.

“Although there is dispute about whether the 2011 ‘closed-door’ gathering occurred, this conflict raises questions of fact that appear to merit attention,” Peterson wrote.

Otherwise, an exemption in the law allows a majority of council members to attend social events “so long as no official business, policy, or public matter is formulated, presented, discussed or voted upon by a quorum.” Peterson finds that most of the discussions would be covered by this or a similar exemption for statewide or regional seminars and training.

In his conclusion, Peterson recommends that all Statesboro City Council members attend annual training in the Open Meetings Act to improve their understanding and help them “avoid even the appearance of impropriety in the future.”

Municipal Court Judge Keith Barber selected Peterson, from Vidalia, to conduct the investigation because of his lack of previous ties with the city of Statesboro. Peterson recorded almost 24 hours of interviews with about 40 people.

City Council unanimously ordered the investigation June 24, at the same meeting where a 3-2 majority of council voted to fire Parker. This followed a statement he made, at a June 19 meeting with city department heads, that he had sometimes met with three or more council members to discuss city business.

Parker also, by a number of accounts by people present, stated that he had seen several council members meeting in City Attorney Alvin Leaphart’s office, but Leaphart denied this, and Peterson found no support from other witnesses for Leaphart’s involvement in any such meeting.

The grounds for the council’s firing decision, stated at the June 24 meeting, was that Parker either participated in violating the sunshine law or impugned the council’s character with a false accusation.

Parker’s attorney replies

Parker filed a wrongful firing lawsuit against the city Sept. 3 alleging that he acted as a whistleblower and could not have violated the Open Meetings Act because it applies only to the elected council members.

In an emailed statement on Parker’s behalf, his attorney, Daniel Snipes, said he had reviewed the investigation report but had yet to receive the transcripts.

“Mr. Peterson thoroughly investigated the matter and painstakingly interviewed many persons who may or may not have relevant information as to the City’s practices regarding meeting procedures over the past few years,” Snipes wrote. “The report addresses the two specific allegations of improper meetings made by Mr. Parker in his Complaint, but is not definitive as to whether these two events constitute a violation of the Georgia Open Meetings Act.”

Peterson also opined that a 90-day statute of limitations has expired on most if not all of Parker’s Open Meetings claims.

But this will not rule out the claims in the lawsuit, according to Snipes.

He wrote: “While I appreciate the City’s expenditure of time and money to conduct its own internal investigation, the Peterson Report and his investigation is not determinative of any issues in the pending law suit for wrongful termination and violations of Georgia’s whistleblower statute. The Peterson Report affirms the merits of the claims made by Mr. Parker when he informed the City that past practices had not always conformed with either the letter or the intent of the Open Meetings Act.”

Mayor Moore said she will fulfill a promise she made earlier to send the report to the attorney general’s office but, based on Peterson’s recommendation, will not ask the attorney general to take any action.

Al Hackle may be reached at (912) 489-9454.