Alpharetta Council Members Say No Conflict by Chamber

UPDATED 8 P.M., APRIL 9: Alpharetta City Council members respond to accusations of conflict of interest issues with the local chamber lobbying them on a mixed-used development's zoning request by saying no conflict really exists, and the lobbying hasn't been that effective.

The Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce is being accused by some people as having a conflict of interest in its lobbying for the mixed-use development Avalon, as reported in the AJC today, April 9. The chamber's president says the group is following its stated mission.

At issue is Alpharetta providing $50,000 for economic development work to the chamber's Progress Partners initiative. Half of that has been paid, with the other half due in July.

for chamber members and other business leaders in Alpharetta. During that presentation, Beach said the chamber supports Avalon and asked the chamber members to tell City Council members if they supported the plan by April 3, the day the Planning Commission was scheduled to make its own recommendation to City Council.

...

UPDATE: Councilman Mike Kennedy didn't see fault with the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce lobbying for projects. His concern is making sure that its economic development arm, Progress Partners, works on bringing business to Alpharetta from outside the area.

"It's just that I would like to see Progress Partners, per se, focus more on bringing b usiness to the area rather than focus on business that's already in the area," Kennedy said.

"Maybe we need to more clearly clarify what we expect for our $50,000 in terms of economic development," he said.

And Councilman Michael Cross, who has been on the chamber's board of directors for five years representing his law firm, is certain no conflict of interest exists.

"My analysis includes the following points:

• The City of Alpharetta hired the Chamber of Commerce to provide economic development assistance, which is similar to what other cities and counties have done;
• As such, the Chamber of Commerce might fairly be considered a vendor of the City;
• The City does not have any prohibition in place that would preclude a vendor of the city from exercising his, her, or its rights to speech;
• Other organizations in the City (neighborhood associations, etc.) properly encourage their members to contact Council members regarding various issues;
• Our Council members are astute enough to recognize the interests various groups have in the matters that come before the Council; and
• I’m not aware of the Chamber having expended any funds in encouraging its members to communicate with Council members.

"Based upon the foregoing, I’m certain that there has not been any violation of a law, rule, or policy," Cross concluded in his email response to questions from Patch.

Councilman Chris Owens said he agreed with the points made by Cross.

Kennedy said only two chamber members have contacted him about Avalon after the Progress Partners' meeting, and one is a neighbor in his subdivision.

...

, "Also I want to know if as the AJC reports today that the arm of the Chamber – Progress Partners – has been using tax dollar to lobby city council on behalf the NAP and this project."

Beach said there is no conflict of interest. The chamber is a vendor for the city like any other, and entered into a memorandum of understanding with the city on what it would provide for economic development.

"The mission of the chamber is, 'We are the catalyst of economic development and quality of life for North Fulton.' That's our simple mission statement," Beach said.

The city contracting with the chamber saves them money from having to hire a full-time economic development staff, he said. The state Department of Economic Development wants one entity that deals with the entire North Fulton region, not six separate cities.

"And we are that entity," Beach said. "And so I don't see it as any conflict of interest."

He said everything has been done above board and in public meetings.

Beach said Michael Cross and Chris Owens were asked to join the chamber's board of directors five years ago, long before they were elected to City Council. All six North Fulton mayors also are on the board. It's the executive board that makes chamber policy, he said, and none of the Alpharetta officials are on the executive board.

As far as calls for their recusal from a vote, James Drinkard, assistant city administrator, said no policy exists that deals with this situation. The city's ethics code defines conflicts as involving financial gain or a similar relationship.

"But to simply sit on the board for a not-for-profit who's expressed an interest on an issue is not necessarily grounds for recusal," he said.

Beach said one thing people aren't realizing is that the property already is zoned.

"They could be building a lot more density than what they are asking for," Beach said of North American Properties.

The master plan created for the property when Stan Thomas and Thomas Enterprises proposed Prospect Park allows 37 percent more density than what is proposed for Avalon.