Cave Springs mayor faces ethics complaints

CAVE SPRINGS — Faced with four complaints of ethics violations, Mayor Travis Lee tried to put the situation into perspective.

“Now I know how President Trump feels,” Lee said Friday. “It’s a witch hunt.”

The state Ethics Commission is investigating four complaints filed against Lee by Terry Rakes of Cave Springs. Lee acknowledged being informed of the complaints but said he couldn’t comment on the specifics as long as an investigation is under way.

The complaints are in letters dated Feb. 9, 2018, from Graham F. Sloan, director of the Ethics Commission, to Rakes informing her an investigation has begun.

Rakes claims Lee has three vending machines, two kept in storage at the Fire Department and one in use at City Hall. Rakes says Lee doesn’t have a business license to operate the machines.

Rakes says Lee uses two Verizon Wi-Fi packs owned by the city. The second complaint says Lee used his city cellphone for personal business while he was in Haiti and didn’t reimburse the city for those calls.

The third complaint says Lee received a duplicate city reimbursement of $391 and the money wasn’t repaid as of May 31, 2017.

Rakes says Lee disbursed city money to a business owned by a city employee without a city ordinance allowing the employee to do business with the city.

Rakes didn’t respond to two voicemail messages left Friday on the phone number she listed on the complaint forms.

Sloan said Friday he couldn’t confirm any complaints have been filed or comment on any allegations.

“We’re required by law to keep pending matters confidential,” Sloan said.

Sloan said once a case has been brought to a conclusion, the commission may issue a decision letter. He said commission records show Rakes filed a complaint against Lee last year claiming he overpaid on the purchase of two vehicles. The commission found that was “a purchasing decision” by the city and not a matter for the commission.

Lee said an investigator told him some of the complaints have already been dropped. Sloan couldn’t confirm that. Lee said he isn’t worried.

“This is like the 15th complaint against me or something like that. I’m confident in the process. The Ethics Commission will thoroughly investigate the allegations, and I am confident that, once again, it will be determined that the city of Cave Springs is compliant with the rule of law,” he said.