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Apparently victorious Athens City Council member Christine Fahl said prior to Tuesday’s election that though she was serving on the board of the Athens Conservancy when she voted on a council resolution that potentially helped the non-profit, she believes there was no illegal or unethical conflict of interest in the vote.
The vote, she noted, involved no expenditure of city money, but merely put City Council on record that if the Conservancy managed to buy a piece of land off East State Street, behind Cook Drive, council would support granting the site a city right-of-way, because otherwise it would be landlocked.
Before the vote in September, she added, “I talked to other members about it. I talked to (City Law Director) Pat Lang about whether I needed to worry that I had a conflict, and he said no.”
The issue was brought to The Athens NEWS’ attention in an anonymous letter that arrived Friday afternoon, four days before the election. Fahl suggested it was probably some last-minute mud-slinging in an attempt to influence the outcome of her Fourth Ward Council race against Randy Morris.
“They’re digging,” she said about the letter, referring to Morris supporters.
Fahl, a Democrat and appointed incumbent, defeated Morris, a Republican, by 30 votes Tuesday, though provisional votes must still be counted. It’s unlikely the late count will change the results, however.
Fahl noted that she is still on the Conservancy board, and argued that this should not force her to recuse herself from anything having do with its activities.
“If Randy Morris was elected, would that mean he could not to anything with the veterans groups he’s involved with?” she asked. “Can I not talk about Conservancy issues? Can I not talk about protecting land? That’s ridiculous.”
Fahl also noted that the resolution, introduced by all council members, merely expressed the body’s support for eventually granting the city right-of-way. Had the Conservancy bought the land, she said, it still would have had to go through the process of applying for the right-of-way and having the request undergo review; it would not have been granted automatically.
As it turned out, the issue is moot anyway.
In October, the Athens County Commissioners voted to not support the Conservancy bid to obtain the land.
The group had been planning to apply for a grant of nearly $700,000 through the Clean Ohio Fund to pay for the purchase. The commissioners indicated they thought the purchase price was too high, and so did not write a support letter for the grant.
The Conservancy, which fears the land may be timbered, wanted to buy it to help create a buffer zone between Strouds Run State Park and development sites on East State.
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