By Maggie Lee / Staff

The next round in the battle for Milton County begins this month, not with legislation or debate but with a hearing at the Fulton County Ethics Board:  is it right for County Commissioner Lynne Riley?(R - Johns Creek) to serve Fulton but support Milton?

Six Democratic Fulton legislators think she can't. Their complaint asks the county Ethics Board to decide if her unambiguous support for Milton is a conflict of interest and a disservice to Fulton citizens. 

"She has taken an oath to work in the best interests of a political unit that she's working to dissolve," explained Rep. Roger Bruce, the head of the Fulton County House delegation and one of the signers of the complaint. 

The 26-page Fulton County Ethics Code clearly defines financial conflict of interest; it's not clear if any of the more general language will apply in Riley's case. 

Riley referred questions to state Rep. Wendell Willard (R-Sandy Springs), who is her lawyer and the city attorney of Sandy Springs. 

WILLARD: CHARGES "BOGUS"

He called the charges "bogus."

"She has a right to express her opinions and beliefs," said Willard. "Nothing is given up by her being an elected official."

Bruce countered, "I don't object to her right to talk … but I don't think she should use her office [to advance her agenda]."

No one argues that Riley supports the creation of Milton County. Earlier this year, she appeared at a House Committee meeting to testify in favor of House Resolution 21, the first step to recreating Milton County. She chairs the Milton County Legislators' Advisory Committee, which this year wrote a report arguing that both Milton and a rump Fulton would be financially viable.

The county commission where she serves, however, has created a One Fulton County advisory committee, charged with giving the commission strategies to keep north with south together as one. Riley abstained from the vote on it.   

Willard charges that the complainants are "trying to intimidate her to prevent her from speaking her beliefs."

ETHICS BOARD TO HEAR RILEY'S CASE IN APRIL – MAYBE

The Ethics Board first received the complaint in July 2009 and eventually scheduled a hearing for Jan. 2010, which was delayed. It's tentatively rescheduled for this month, but may shift again depending on the state House schedule, of which the plaintiffs and Riley's attorney are members. 

The other five complainants are Reps. Ralph Long, Joe Heckstall, Virgil Fludd, Rashad Taylor and Tyrone Brooks, all Democrats from central and south Fulton.  Fulton's entire House delegation numbers twenty. 

Brooks said he and his allies do not want Riley removed, but they challenge her to "make a choice:  advocate for Milton or work to make a Fulton County we're all proud of."

Riley made her choice long ago. Her detractors just don't want to hear it -- or accept it.