The findings of Atoka’s ethics investigation weren’t ready Tuesday night, and the delay brought into the open that the review includes a complaint Vice Mayor John Harber filed against Mayor Barry Akin.

Town Attorney Amber Shaw told the Board of Mayor and Aldermen that outside investigator Rachel Simmons has “substantially completed” her work but still needs to give Harber a chance to respond before she finishes her report. Harber has hired his own attorney, David Pickler, and Simmons will now work through him. Shaw said she did not know when the report would be done.

The board voted to call a special meeting as soon as the report is finished and to advertise it through every channel the town uses, including the Atoka app.

“We do not want to be seen at all as trying to delay, try to sweep under the rug, if you will,” Akin said. “This will be public.”

Complaint against the mayor

Later in the meeting, Harber moved to postpone a resolution that would raise the public comment limit from two minutes to three, saying it was tied to the ethics investigation.

Akin then told the audience that Harber had filed an ethics complaint against him over public comment time. Akin said a resident reminded him after the Oct. 5 candidate forum, hosted by the South Tipton Chamber of Commerce and Paper Folds News, how hard it is to speak in two minutes, so at the board’s Oct. 8 meeting he allowed three. He said he believed that was his call to make and did not know the town’s resolution set the limit at two minutes, with extra time at the mayor’s discretion.

“I stand by what I did,” Akin said. “I was not aware that it was actually stated two minutes.” He said the new resolution would make three minutes permanent.

“Mayor, you signed the resolution,” Harber said.

The board adopted the current public comment policy as Resolution 23-12-03 in December 2023. It passed 4-2, with Harber among the yes votes.

Shaw confirmed that Harber filed the complaint against the mayor and asked the board to end discussion because the investigation is pending.

Simmons’ update, which Shaw read aloud, said she had notified Akin of complaints “against him or bearing on his conduct” and had interviewed him. Shaw said all five complaints in the review were either made by Harber or related to him.

Public comment change postponed

Harber said the resolution was “directly tied to that investigation” and that it would be in residents’ best interest to wait until the investigation is complete.

Alderman Chris Detje questioned the delay.

“I don’t understand what we’re suppressing,” he said, noting the Oct. 8 meeting was public and online. “It’s not like we’re going to go back and rewrite history because the results of the investigation come back one way or another.”

Shaw said passing the resolution would not affect the investigation.

“At the time of the alleged events, the resolution said one thing,” she said. “Whatever happens now doesn’t relate to what happened then.”

The motion to postpone passed on a roll call vote. Harber and aldermen Jeremy Lightsey and Jessie Poole voted yes, and Detje and Alderman Brett Giannini voted no. Alderman Chris Schaeffer was absent. The resolution will return Dec. 8.

Why the report isn’t done

Shaw said Simmons reported late Monday that she had interviewed numerous people but still needed to interview Harber.

Simmons emailed Harber on Nov. 6 with notice of the complaints and asked to speak with him. Harber raised a possible conflict of interest because he had met with Simmons’ law partner, David Owen. After emails over three days, Simmons concluded there was no disqualifying conflict, and Harber agreed, Shaw said. He then hired Pickler. Shaw said a meeting could happen as soon as the middle of next week, depending on Harber’s attorney.

Detje asked why Simmons did not contact Harber until Nov. 6, nearly a month after the board hired her. Shaw said Simmons wanted to gather everything else first so she could address all five complaints with him at once.

Simmons’ review covers Detje’s original request, which asked her to look into claims residents Krista Scott and Brook Taylor raised against Harber at the Oct. 8 meeting. Scott also filed her own written complaint. Simmons said she did not include Fire Department Capt. Andrew Stroud, who also spoke Oct. 8, because his comments responded to Harber’s remarks at the candidate forum and did not raise ethical concerns on their face.

What happens next

Shaw will send the report to the board as soon as she receives it. Simmons is expected to include recommendations and the board’s options if she finds any ethics violations.

Shaw said the board could act on the report at the special meeting.

A special meeting requires a quorum of four members, and any action other than an ordinance needs a majority of members present. Shaw said she believes the charter requires 12 hours’ notice for a special meeting.

Harber, who lost the Nov. 3 mayor’s race to Akin, did not seek re-election as alderman.