Tessa, Metro Arts legal counsel, briefed commissioners July 24 on Metro ethics rules, conflicts of interest, recusal obligations, public-meeting requirements and state law that governs municipal arts grants.
Tessa reviewed Metro Code 2.222, which prohibits accepting benefits that could influence official action, and summarized exceptions such as plaques, modest gifts and certain pre-existing personal relationships. She said commissioners should avoid using Metro property or nonpublic information for personal gain, and should disclose outside contacts that could affect a decision.
“Do not accept or solicit any benefit that might influence you or cause you to act improperly in the discharge of your duties,” Tessa told the commission. She advised commissioners that meals exceeding a modest threshold, free event tickets and other offers sometimes require caution and disclosure; she noted a $25 meal-exception threshold used in the code’s guidance and described allowable exceptions such as gifts unrelated to a commissioner’s Metro position.
Tessa also covered recusal guidance: commissioners should consider abstaining when they or a close family member would gain or lose monetarily from a decision or when impartiality is impossible. She emphasized that Tennessee law disfavors abstentions used to influence outcomes and that the Open Meetings Act prohibits deliberating toward decisions outside publicly noticed meetings.
On state law, Tessa explained that Tennessee Code Annotated section 3-7-314(d) allows a municipal arts commission to distribute funds to nonprofit arts organizations without first returning the awards to the legislative body for approval, but it requires an annual report to the legislative body listing recipients and amounts. Counsel noted Metro Arts must work within the Metro Code and state laws and that the Metro Board of Ethical Conduct enforces ethics complaints.
Tessa concluded with practical advice: disclose contacts and prior knowledge that could affect votes, document the basis for decisions in the public record, consult counsel when in doubt, and avoid email deliberation that amounts to substantive decision-making outside meetings.