Ethics complaints filed against city officials
May 13—An ethics complaint filed this week questions whether one city councilor can occupy his post on Muskogee's nine-member governing board due to alleged business interests.
A complaint filed Monday alleges Ward II Councilor Alex Reynolds is ineligible to serve as a municipal officer because of his ownership interests in a medical cannabis business. Reynolds was identified as a director of 918 Roots, a limited liability company that owns a dispensary on South Main Street, on an application seeking a $7,500 grant from the Muskogee Tourism Authority.
Reynolds denied owning an interest in any medical cannabis business and said claims to the contrary are "absolutely false." Reynolds acknowledged his advocacy for the industry, which generated nearly $51 million in state and local tax revenue since January, but said he holds no commercial medical cannabis license.
"I have made that clear to the city attorney, I have made that clear to the city manager, and I have made that clear with tourism," Reynolds said. "Anybody who put my name on any form was misleading the public."
The complaint lodged by Mark Hughes and Phoenicia Chaidez was sent Monday to Mayor Marlon Coleman. The complaint references state regulations that prohibit municipal officers from holding a commercial license for a medical cannabis business located within the boundaries of the municipality where an officeholder was elected or appointed.
The complainants cite five concerns in the letter to Coleman, who will decide how to proceed. The Code of Ethics adopted in 2017 by city councilors provides no procedures for complaints filed by residents — compliance and enforcement is carried out by "members of the Muskogee City Council, boards and commissions."
City Attorney Roy Tucker said that does not mean the concerns expressed by Hughes and Chaidez in their complaint will go unaddressed. He said all citizen complaints are investigated.
"There is no formal mechanism for the public to make a complaint, but even if there aren't rules in place they will be looked into," Tucker said. "Since this complaint went to the mayor, he will decide what to do."
Tucker said he was asked what impact Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority regulations and state law might have on city councilors and others considered municipal officers. Tucker said he offered no opinion in response to the inquiry, but former Ward I Councilor Patrick Cale, who has ownership interests in the medical cannabis industry, resigned to secure a license.
Hughes and Chaidez identified Tucker in a separate complaint, citing concerns with the ethics policy and procedures set out for compliance and enforcement. They cite as a primary concern Tucker's assigned task of investigating the alleged wrongdoing of those who have the authority to influence the future of his employment.
Tucker, a city council appointee, is subject to annual reviews. Councilors have sole authority to define the terms of his compensation and benefits package or whether he will continue as an employee of the city of Muskogee.
The ethics policy directs the city attorney to "fully investigate" any matter and present a report of his investigative findings to city councilors once an investigation is completed. Hughes said organizational responsibilities and personal relationships could influence any investigation conducted by Tucker or his office and skew the findings presented to councilors.
"The city of Muskogee has to have a true ethics policy — right now it is built on a house of cards," Hughes said. "The mayor and the city council are playing charades with it right now — it is obviously flawed, and I'll do everything I can to make sure that changes."
Tucker said as a city attorney the duty he owes is "to the city, not city council members." The ethics rules, he said, were "self-imposed by city councilors" because none existed before.
He said city councilors would decide how to conduct any investigation of a complaint filed against him or his office.
