Thursday, September 28, 2023–7:18 p.m.

-David Crowder, WRGA News-

-John Bailey, Rome News-Tribune-

This story is possible because of a news-sharing agreement with the Rome News-Tribune. More information can be found at northwestgeorgianews.com

Rome City Commissioner Bill Collins and Rome Mayor Sundai Stevenson are responding to ethics complaints that were filed against them this week.

One of the complaints, filed by Ken Wright, states that since Collins’ wife, Faith Collins, is the chair of the Rome Board of Education he should not participate in any vote concerning the school system, such as the backing of bonds for the construction of a new middle school. The issue was brought up during Monday’s Rome City Commission by David Doss.

“First and foremost, I raise this issue with no disrespect to Mr. Collins or his wife as I have considered them to be close, personal friends for probably more than 30 years,” Doss said. “Furthermore, I am not an attorney and I make no claim to be an expert in legal matters. However, I have researched this matter, and from a layman’s point of view, it seems quite clear to me that a conflict may very well in fact exist.”

Collins told the Rome News-Tribune the complaint is “political” and “There is no conflict of interest because no one in my immediate family would benefit financially from a new Rome Middle School.”

The complaint against Stevenson, filed by Floyd County GOP Chair Jamie Palmer, centers around Stevenson holding a notary license in Gordon County during her tenure as a Rome commissioner.

It states that Stevenson had signed legal documents swearing that she was a resident of Gordon County from 2013 until 2018 when she resigned from that post. She has been a city commissioner since 2015.

Stevenson told the paper on Thursday that she grew up in Gordon County and had the notary post there before moving to Rome. Since then, she’d continued to renew it. In 2018, when she was contacted by the Gordon County Superior Court concerning the requirement to be a Gordon County resident to keep her notary license there, she resigned it. 

This is the third time that Rome’s ethics ordinance has been used in the 20-plus years since its adoption. Earlier this year, in April, an ethics complaint was filed against City Commissioner Mark Cochran.