Sumner County ethics committee dismisses multiple complaints; attempt to vacate prior Wynne finding fails

SUMNER COUNTY — The Sumner County Ethics and Conduct Committee on Oct. 27 voted to dismiss multiple complaints it determined were outside the scope of the county ethics resolution and rejected an effort to vacate a previous finding against Commissioner Wynne.

The committee voted to remove Old Business items 5A and 5B and New Business item 6A from the ethics committee agenda after a motion that the matters “do not fall within the ethics resolution,” a point raised by Commissioner Klein. The committee then approved a separate motion dismissing a New Business complaint (6B) related to the library board for lack of standing, following advice from the county attorney that the library matter was not appropriate for the ethics committee.

Committee members said the dismissed items did not involve the kinds of conflicts of interest or financial matters the county’s ethics policy is intended to address. Commissioner Klein moved to strike the items from the committee docket, arguing they were not ethics complaints under the county’s resolution. The committee approved the motion in a verbal roll-call-style vote.

During debate, Commissioner Bergdorf offered an amendment asking the committee to vacate a prior finding against Commissioner Wynne that had prohibited Wynne from serving on committees for two years. Bergdorf argued the earlier finding was similar in nature to the matters before the committee; others said the proposal should be handled as a separate agenda item. The amendment failed for lack of a second.

When a complaint labeled as New Business 6B — described by members as a matter between a library board and another party — came before the committee, a member moved to dismiss it for lack of standing. The county attorney advised the committee that, "Based on the treatment of the other 3, I would say it does not" fall within the ethics committee’s jurisdiction. The committee then voted to dismiss 6B.

The chair announced that Old Business 5A, 5B and New Business 6A had been dismissed and later confirmed the 6B dismissal. Members did not set a next committee meeting date. For parliamentary reasons, they instructed staff to add a report to the full County Commission agenda noting the committee had deemed no action necessary on the matters referred to it.

Actions taken at the meeting were procedural dismissals; no penalties or further ethics investigations were opened on the items the committee dismissed at this meeting. The record shows an unsuccessful attempt to vacate the earlier Wynne finding, which was not adopted.

The committee meeting began at 6 p.m. and concluded after the dismissals and brief procedural business.