Salina City Attorney Patrick Hoffman declined to provide a public legal opinion on whether Mayor Mike Hoppock should have recused himself from the vote appointing Gary Norris to the Salina City Commission.

Salina311 asked Hoffman whether prior real estate transactions involving Norris and Land Title Services, a company in which Hoppock has disclosed a substantial interest, created a conflict of interest under Kansas law or the City's ethics policy.

Salina311 also asked whether Hoppock should have disclosed the business relationship or recused himself from the appointment vote, whether the two officials could continue doing business while serving together, and whether ending that business relationship would be appropriate to avoid the appearance of a conflict.

Hoffman did not directly answer those legal questions.

"As a matter of practice, the City Attorney does not provide public legal opinions or legal analysis regarding City matters," Hoffman said. "Legal advice is provided to the City Commission, City staff, and other authorized City officials through appropriate internal channels."

Hoffman instead provided Salina311 with a copy of the City's ethics policy.

"Local government officials throughout Kansas come from a wide range of industries and professional backgrounds," Hoffman said. "There is nothing particularly unusual about a real estate agent serving as a city commissioner."

What the City's Ethics Policy Says

The City's ethics policy does not state that a disclosed ownership interest in a business automatically requires a commissioner to abstain from every vote involving someone who has previously done business with that company.

Instead, the policy establishes separate standards involving a statutory "substantial interest," common-law conflicts of interest and the appearance of bias.

Under Section 6, the policy says a common-law conflict generally involves whether an official has a "personal interest" in the matter before the governing body. Examples listed in the policy include direct and indirect financial interests and certain other personal interests.

The policy also says a common-law conflict does not arise simply from a "remote or speculative interest, or the mere possibility of a future conflict of interest."

When an actual common-law conflict exists, the policy states that a city officer or employee "shall disclose and abstain from any action relating to a matter which presents him or her with a common-law conflict of interest."

The policy separately addresses the appearance of bias.

Section 7 says that when a governing-body member does not have a substantial-interest or common-law conflict but believes an interest related to a matter could create an appearance of bias to the public, the member may choose to abstain. Under the wording of the policy, that type of abstention is discretionary when no actual conflict has otherwise been established.

The policy also places primary responsibility on individual city officials to recognize possible conflicts and determine whether disclosure or abstention is necessary, while providing procedures for potential conflicts raised by other commissioners or members of the public.

Nothing in Hoffman's response states whether those provisions required Hoppock to abstain from the Norris appointment vote. Hoffman expressly declined to provide that public legal analysis.

Public property records reviewed by Salina311 appear to show Land Title Services has handled multiple real estate transactions connected to Norris.

Norris was appointed to the vacant City Commission seat Monday following a roll-call vote. Hoppock voted in favor of Norris' appointment.

Hoppock and Norris Pause Business Relationship

While Hoffman did not provide an opinion on whether the prior transactions created a legal or ethical conflict, he confirmed that Hoppock and Norris have decided not to conduct real estate transactions together while both serve on the Commission.

"Mayor Hoppock and Commissioner Norris have already decided not to work together on real estate transactions while they are both serving as Commissioners, in order to avoid any actual or perceived conflict-of-interest concerns," Hoffman said.

Hoffman's statement does not characterize the previous business relationship as a conflict of interest and does not state that Hoppock was required to recuse himself from the appointment vote.

What it does establish is that Hoppock and Norris have chosen to pause their real estate business relationship while serving together on the City Commission in order to avoid actual or perceived conflict-of-interest concerns.