DeKalb County Commissioner Jeff Rader. Photo by Dan Whisenhunt

DeKalb County Commissioner Jeff Rader, whose district includes the city of Decatur, is the target of an ethics complaint.

The complaint, filed on July 1, alleges various conflicts of interest involving Rader’s former employer, Jacobs Engineering. Rader no longer works for the company. He said there is no merit to the allegations.

“I think that it’s a baseless complaint,” Rader said.

A person named Timothy Brantley filed the complaint. Rader said he does not know who Brantley is.

Decaturish called the phone number listed on the complaint on July 3. The man identified himself as Brantley but declined to be quoted.

“I just want the ethics committee to go and do its job,” he said.

The complaint alleges Rader used his influence to steer contracts to his employer, and that the company fired him after allegations of impropriety appeared in an anonymous comment on the DeKalb County School Watch website.

To read the full complaint, click this link: Commissioner Jeff Rader Ethics Complaint

Rader said “I take the process seriously” and plans to retain counsel to represent him. He flatly denied each allegation in the complaint.

“When I was first elected to office, I requested an advisory opinion from the ethics board on how to address that potential for conflict of interest,” Rader said. “They gave me an advisory opinion and I have abided by that opinion over these past eight years. The allegations in accusation No. 2 are patently false and are unsubstantiated by any evidence, which is where he says I colluded with other commissioners and county officials to steer business. There’s no evidence of that. Those are patently false and frankly it’s libelous. The third issue is, obviously I will contest the accusations and hope to be vindicated by the ethics board.”