Casson Speaks On Conflict Of Interest Issue

By Gordon HopkinsJefferson County Commissioners got a preview of the Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission’s meeting scheduled for Thursday, August 18 of this year, at the Jefferson County Courthouse. One of the items on the agenda is possible conflicts of interest.The P&Z meeting is to discuss regulations governing wind turbine permits. Some members of the public have expressed concerns that P&Z board members may have a conflict of interest if they could potentially benefit financially from a wind turbine permit.Jefferson County Attorney Joseph Casson spoke to commissioner at a meeting on Tuesday, August 9.Casson said, “If you can have a wind turbine on your farm. That’s a direct financial interest. And if you own a farm, you can have a wind turbine. And I think pretty much every member of your planning commission own farm.”Casson explained that, even if a member of the commissioner has not expressed an interest in having a turbine and may even be opposed to the presence of wind turbines in the county, “You have the opportunity to have a wind turbine on your farm.”“So the issue becomes, is that a conflict of interest because you could have? Maybe you don’t want one but you could have,” said Casson. “It becomes difficult for a public body to even address the issue if everybody has a conflict of interest, because they’re all landowners that are affected by the wind turbine thing.”Casson said he is working on this issue with the Accountability and Disclosure Commission, the state agency charged with the administration and enforcement of the Nebraska Political Accountability and Disclosure Act (NPADA). The NPADA regulates campaign finance disclosure, lobbying, statements of financial interest and conflicts of interest at the state and local levels.“So, strange as this may sound, the Accountability and Disclosure Commission has a, I’ll call it a special rule, about conflict of interest when all of the members have a conflict of interest,” said Casson. “And do you know what the rule says? There is no conflict of interest, because they all have it. Because otherwise, you could never regulate it.”“So, I think, Casson added. “That’s what the answers going to be in that.”

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