Heneghan Talks About Ethics Complaint

Councilman John Heneghan is speaking out about a against him and fellow council members filed by Adrian Bonser on his popular blog,  Heneghan's Dunwoody Blog.

Heneghan, in a post titled "City of Dunwoody, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly" says that he doesn't think that Bonser's counter claim is an actual city ethics violation, as the council is accused of calling a closed session when it wasn't warranted by Georgia's open meeting law.

He said the appropriate venue for the claim could be the state through the Attorney General's office.

Heneghan writes that he wasn't at the Feb. 3 meeting that is the subject of the complaint against him, and also questions whether the council members would be individually responsible for meeting in closed session since they were given the advice by their lawyer.

He also comments on the lengthy process to resolve both an and a .

"This matter needs to come to a close and if I could find a way to settle this, I surely would," he wrote. He says the matter is a waste of "time, energy and money" but that "there is a legal process in place and everyone has the right to use it (even is flawed).  In the mean time, we pay through the nose for 'justice'."

Heneghan also offers a comment about why he signed the ethics complaint against Bonser.

"Our ethics code was written very restrictively and placing the responsibility of reporting supposed ethics violations on the elected officials, otherwise we would be in violation for not reporting.  It was because of this requirement that I, and am guessing the other members of council, signed the complaint so that the ethics board could review the Wilson Report and air it out because it was the only legally appropriate method available to have that done."

Here's an excerpt of what Heneghan posted on his blog this morning:

- I have been quiet on the blog regarding the Ethics issue but received several emails from people that were very surprised to learn that I too was accused of an ethics violation … An ethics counter charge against myself, the Mayor and other Council Members was filed by Councilwoman Adrian Bonser and then was publicized widely by her and is posted on her website.

- Because of the charge against me, I need to reply to the ethics charges within 30 days - my reply will clearly state that the complaint filed against me quotes no violation of any section of Article VIII Ethics in the Dunwoody Code as it is required in section 2-258(a) of Dunwoody Code, instead the complaint states that I violated Georgia State law.

- As I have said previously, this whole process is a waste of time, energy and money whereby even if I or someone else was found guilty as charged, I am guessing the penalty for this would likely be a slap on the wrist admonishment or a very small penalty ($500) if levied by the State.  That being said, there is a legal process in place and everyone has the right to use it (even is flawed).  In the mean time, we pay through the nose for "justice".