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Rep. Brian Kelsey files Ethics complaint against Speaker Kent Williams

By Christine Anne Piesyk | January 21, 2009 | Print This Post
 

kelseyMEMPHIS – (R-Germantown) filed an Ethics Complaint today against Speaker of the House Kent Williams for Williams’s acts of sexual harassment and for making a false statement to the public regarding the allegations.  Rep. Kelsey filed the Complaint directly with Speaker Williams this afternoon via e-mail.

It was revealed yesterday that on March 27, 2007, Williams solicited a sexual act from Rep. Susan Lynn in the legislative parking garage, telling her, “I will give a week’s pay just to see you naked.”

A memo written by Rep. Susan Lynn chronicles that Williams admitted the charge of sexual harassment, apologized to Rep. Lynn, and was reprimanded by Leader Mumpower.

Yesterday, Speaker Williams issued a public statement, saying, “I have never sexually harassed anyone nor have I been reprimanded for any such behavior.”

“Speaker Williams’s actions of sexual harassment were bad enough to begin with.  Denying that the events ever occurred, in effect calling Rep. Lynn a liar, is like spitting in the face of his victim,” said Rep. Kelsey from his law office in Memphis.

Rep. Kelsey continued, “Speaker Williams issued a false statement with the intent to deceive the public.  This type of dishonesty to the people of Tennessee is totally unacceptable from the leader of the House of Representatives.”

Rep. Kelsey has been a leader on issues of ethics throughout his four-year tenure in the House of Representatives.  He was the first member of the General Assembly to call for public hearings on whether indicted legislators should keep their seats in the wake of the Tennessee Waltz scandal,  and he introduced thirty-three amendments to strengthen the ethics bill in the special session on ethics in 2006.  He has been a vocal proponent of closing the loophole in the lobbyist gift ban for legislative receptions.

This is a link to the Ethics complaint:  http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&attid=0.1&thid=11efb46e35d36ddf&mt=application%2Fpdf

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About Christine Anne Piesyk

    In my 40+ years in media, I have worked as feature writer, investigative reporter, editor, publisher, and film/theater/arts critic. I brought my liberal New England activism to Tennessee several years ago, having finally completed a mid-life undergraduate degree in community organizing and women's studies, and an MA in Interdisciplinary Arts with a concentration in Alzheimer's Disease. I served on Future Search Commissions for two colleges and on homelessness for the City of Northampton (MA), where I applied some of my undergrad work in urban planning and community development. I am a member of FreeThinkers for Peace and Civil Liberties. I am a certified storm spotter just because weather fascinates me. In my spare time (define spare time please?) I am a voracious reader, obsessive movie buff, ballroom dancer, and classical music junkie. I also create sci-fi/fantasy and renaissance costumes. I see life as an ongoing opportunity for learning and adventure (one current interest is mastering preparation of foods from India and Southeast Asia). My dream: a return trip to Machu Picchu. After all, the best things still to come. All posts by Christine Anne Piesyk as presented on Clarksville Online are copyright ©2006, 2007, 2008 to the author.

    Email: womanspeak@gmail.com

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