The Savannah City Council appointed three new members to the ethics committee Thursday, after a complaint was filed against Mayor Edna Jackson last month.
The appointments were necessary because complaints are supposed to be heard within 30 days and the committee had no members.
The seats were vacated after it was discovered this summer that then-Committee Chairman Matthew Southall Brown Sr. and committee member Helen Downing were prohibited from serving because they had donated to city political campaigns — a prohibition Jackson said they did not know when the previous council made the appointments in 2009. The third member, Wanda Andrews, also decided not to reapply as the committee faced the end of its four-year term.
Van Johnson, Mary Osborne and Mary Ellen Sprague said on Thursday their appointees had not donated to any local political campaigns and also met the other requirements.
Appointed to the board were Pastor Lee Wright of Word of Faith Christian Family Center, the Rev. Corey Brown of the Second African Baptist Church, and attorney Kate Strain.
The appointments came after the city failed to get any applicants following advertisements for the positions this summer, said Clerk of Council Dyanne Reese. The council also advertised for two weeks ahead of Thursday’s meeting, with no responses, Reese said.
via Savannah City Council approves ethics commission following complaint | savannahnow.com.
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