Councilwoman Bonser to Be Publicly Reprimanded for Ethics Violations

The Dunwoody Board of Ethics recommended Wednesday that Councilwoman Adrian Bonser be publicly reprimanded by the Dunwoody City Council for ethics violations.

According to a report from Reporter Newspapers, the board said Bonser was in violation of the city's ethics code when she sent "discourteous" emails to one of her constituents, Stephen Chipka.

Ethics Board Chairman Steven Blaske said Chipka's emails were also discourteous, but the board's task was to evaluate Bonser's behavior and responses, not Chipka's.

Blaske also said, "We are trying to hold our public servants to the highest possible standard, and courtesy was in the code.”

The email deemed "discourteous" was one of about 100 messages exchanged between Bonser and Chipka.

Bonser said she was confused by the board's ruling.

"[Chipka] accused me of being threatening and abusive in one email and I got charged for being ‘discourteous’ in another email he didn’t complain about. That doesn’t make sense," she was quoted saying in the Reporter article.

Bonser announced at the Monday City Council that she plans to file ethics complaints against a city attorney Larry Felgin and the city's Ethics Hearing Officer Jennifer Keaton.