District 1 commissioner says action is simple harassment
John Scoggins says the Madison County Board of Commissioners made a campaign contribution to Stanley Thomas when they reimbursed the District 1 representative for legal fees incurred during a failed recall effort.
Now Scoggins, who served briefly as the county’s District 4 commissioner before resigning, has filed a complaint with the State Ethics Commission, alleging that Thomas broke the law by accepting funds from the BOC and not reporting the payment as a campaign contribution.
“It speaks for itself,” said Scoggins of the ethics charges, declining to comment further.
Meanwhile, Thomas had plenty to say, calling the action a purely political move in an election year.
“This is harassment,” he said. “It’s ridiculous that my friends and family have to pick up the paper and read these lies.”
Thomas incurred $13,197 in legal fees during the recall effort against him. Recall chairman Jerry Williams was ordered by a judge to reimburse Thomas roughly $7,000 in legal expenses, which was received by the county. The BOC voted last March to cover legal fees for commissioners defending themselves in a recall, but only if a judge deems that the recall effort lacks legal merit. The county then issued a check to Thomas in April 2007 for the legal expenses.
“If the county is being led by an ethically bad person, then why did he (Scoggins) wait a year to file, why wait until after qualifying?” said Thomas. “It’s outright politically motivated.”
In his complaint, Scoggins said the board was wrong to pay Thomas. He said the BOC sought to circumvent state law and the Ethics in Government Act by “renaming the recall process a quasi-criminal action.”
Scoggins sought the advice of Danielsville attorney Victor Johnson on the matter.
“In my opinion, the Ethics in Government Act does not allow a county to pay legal fees for opposition to a recall petition,” wrote Johnson. “Payments made to oppose a recall action, such as payment of attorney’s fees to defend the action, qualify as a contribution…”
Scoggins contends that Thomas violated the law by accepting the money from the county “as an individual, not as chairman of the ‘campaign committee’” and that the “contribution” exceeded the “amount allowed by the Recall Act.”
Thomas filed and won an ethics charge against Williams, claiming that the recall chairman failed to file campaign contributions during the recall effort. Thomas noted that he himself did file contribution reports during that time. When Williams’ campaign reports were filed, they showed that Scoggins, who said he was a paid consultant for the recall effort, was actually contributing money to the recall effort against Thomas.
“He’s mad at me for exposing him,” said Thomas. “I caught him in an outright lie.”
Thomas said the payment from the county was not a “campaign contribution,” but a “reimbursement.”
“The check stub says ‘reimbursement for legal fees,’” said Thomas.
He added that the issue is “pretty disheartening.”
“They got two of them (commissioners) to resign (in the 1990s) with recalls,” said Thomas. “They’re trying to drive me to quit, but I’m not a puppet or a ‘yes’ man.”
