Ethics complaint filed against Tryon
During the Oct. 3 City Commission meeting, Jasmine Taylor filed a formal ethics complaint against Commissioner Rick Tryon.
Taylor, a local Democratic activist, alleged that Tryon has violated the city’s ethics code for his association with Stray Moose Productions, a local company owned by Phil Faccenda; and for publishing articles on E-City Beat, a local right leaning blog affiliated with Stray Moose and Faccenda.
Taylor said that based on Tryon’s publicly available profiles, “it appears that an employment relationship exists between Tryon and Stray Moose Productions, which logically extends to E-City Beat. E-City Beat allows for paid advertising on their website, and likely generates income for its owners.”
She said that while Tryon retains first amendment rights, as a public official he is held to the city’s ethics code.
She said it violates the provision of the ethics code that prohibits an “officer or employee of the city from having an interest in a business organization or engage in any business, transaction or professional activity which is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge of his or her governmental duties,” and “no officer or employee shall act in his or her official capacity in any matter where he or she, a member of his or her immediate family, or any business organization in which he or she has an interest, has a direct or indirect financial or personal involvement that might reasonably be expected to impair his or her objectivity or independence or judgment, or substantially conflict with the proper discharge of officer or employee’s governmental duties” and “no officer or employee shall undertake any private employment or service which might prejudice his or her independent judgment in the exercise of his or her official duties.”
She argues in her complaint that Tryon’s published content on the site could drive viewership and in turn, advertising revenue.
“Tryon cannot simultaneously act independently and objectively while writing about city issues on a blog for which he works, and about issues on which he is voting,” Taylor wrote in her complaint.
Taylor also cited a section of the city ethics code stating that its ethical standards “shall inspire and stimulate each officer and employee to: affirm the dignity and worth of the services rendered by government and maintain a constructive, creative and practical attitude toward urban affairs and a deep sense of social responsibility as a trusted public servant; be dedicated to the highest ideals of honor and integrity in all public and personal relationships so that each public servant may merit the respect and confidence of elected officials, of other officials and employees, and of the public.”
City ethics committee finds complaints regarding heritage area unsubstantiated [2021]
She wrote in her complaint that Tryon’s posts on E-City Beat do not meet those standards.
“Even more concerning than Tryon’s more broad discriminatory statements is Tryon’s consistent targeting and harassment of local citizens that disagree with him. Tryon has continually and consistently used E-City Beat to disparage and humiliate citizens that disagree with him. Many of these citizens have never run for public office, nor would they be considered a ‘public figure’ by an interpretation of the definition,” Taylor wrote.
Tryon did not respond to Taylor’s comments during the public comment portion at the beginning of the meeting.
At the end of the meeting, he said, “I’m totally innocent of all charges leveled against me this evening.”
Commission considering changes to city ethics committee rules [2019]
The Electric asked City Manager Greg Doyon for confirmation of the process and timeline for formal ethics complaints, but hasn’t yet received a response.
The last time a formal ethics complaint was filed against a commissioner was in 2019 and because the complaint was against the city manager’s immediate supervisor, staff referred the complaint to the ethics committee for evaluation and determination.
In that case, Jeni Dodd made a verbal complaint during a commission meeting regarding then Commissioner Tracy Houck’s involvement with the local women’s march. She followed it up with a written complaint delivered to then City Attorney Sara Sexe.
City ethics committee to consider rule, procedure changes [2019]
At the time, city code only allows the city manager to refer matters to the committee and staff is asking to change that language to also allow the city attorney to refer matters to the committee for situations when the city manager may be unable or unwilling to refer the issue.
Commissioners modified those rules in 2019.
The city ethics committee was established in 2017 and stemmed from a series of conflict of interest issues related to the Community Development Block Grant allocation cycle that year. The city has also revamped the CDBG process, created conflict disclosure forms and a training requirement for anyone on city boards or commissions in an effort to prevent future occurrences.
City ethics committee hears first complaint regarding Houck’s social media post [2019]
In 2021, Dodd made an ethics complaint against city staff regarding the proposed national heritage area. The ethics committee found those complaints to be unsubstantiated.
