Board of Ethical Conduct finds violations by Council member Courtney Johnston, issues written warning

The Board of Ethical Conduct determined on April 20 that Metro Council Member Courtney Johnston violated the city ethics code by failing to disclose a board position and creating a reasonable appearance of divided loyalty in a contested hearing arising from an ethics complaint filed by Melanie Cochran and Elizabeth Sullivan.

Complainants’ attorney Brian Peeper told the board the case was not a simple omission but an affirmative misstatement: “This was a misrepresentation. This was a falsification of her disclosure,” he said, arguing that documentary evidence obtained through an open-records request showed Johnston was an active participant on the Music City Children’s Museum board for months before she filed a December 2025 disclosure form that answered “No” to holding any board position.

Why it matters: The board concluded that the combination of a public filing that denied membership and contemporaneous emails, minutes and text messages created a reasonable basis for concern that Johnston’s outside activity could influence, or be perceived to influence, her council duties. The board found violations of Metro Code 2.222.02 subsections R (disclosure requirements) and K (conduct that creates a reasonable impression of improper influence), but it did not find a violation of subsection Q, which addresses appearing on behalf of private interests before the council.

Evidence and testimony: Elizabeth M. K. Sullivan, one of the complainants, walked the board through a packet of documents that included July 2025 museum board minutes listing Johnston’s participation, multiple 2025 board emails and a November 2025 invitation from the investor group. Sullivan also read a text message exchange from April 2026 in which, according to the transcript, Johnston wrote that she had “seen the renderings. I’m working with them as a board member of the Children’s Museum,” a statement Sullivan said prompted her open-records request and the ethics filing.

Johnston testified under oath and acknowledged she had been on the museum board and that her original disclosure was incorrect. She said she introduced investor David Berley to museum leadership but that neither she nor the museum had a binding agreement to occupy space in the East Bend redevelopment and that the museum had only modest funds (she estimated “$15 or $20,000 in the bank at most”). She told the board she consulted Metro legal counsel about whether to abstain and, after the complaint was filed, corrected her disclosure and resigned from the museum board.

Board deliberations and outcome: After public deliberations the board voted 5–0 to find violations of subsections K and R and to issue a written warning. The board discussed but declined to recommend a city-council censure or referral to prosecutors, citing an absence of evidence of personal financial gain or a binding agreement. Chair Young summarized the decision and directed that a written warning be placed on the case file and that the corrected disclosure and resignation were noted in the record.

Board order and next steps: The board’s written warning documents the finding that Johnston failed to disclose her board membership and that the record created a reasonable basis for concern under the applicable ethics provisions. The warning notes the corrections already made (an amended disclosure and Johnston’s resignation from the museum board) and asks the official to weigh the prior finding in any future disclosures or votes related to the project. The board said it will publish the order in its case file and provide copies to the parties and to the vice mayor’s office.

What was not decided: The board did not find that Johnston received money or other personal benefit from the investor group or the museum, nor did it find that she formally represented a private interest before the council. Those factual points were central to the defense and influenced the board’s decision to issue a written warning rather than a public censure or referral.

The hearing record includes extensive documentary exhibits entered by the complainants and sworn testimony from Sullivan and Council Member Johnston. The board’s order and the packet of admitted exhibits will be available in the case file on the Board of Ethical Conduct website.