>>Chesapeake Mayor Faces Scrutiny for Asking City Attorney to Legally Advise Georgia Family Member for Free
(Chesapeake, VA) -- Chesapeake's mayor is facing scrutiny for asking the city's attorney to give legal advice to a family member living in Georgia for free. Thomas Cage with the story.Preview: Voicer Script:
In August of 2022, Chesapeake Mayor Rick West received an email request from his step brother-in-law, Jonathan, asking for help to get legal advice on a property dispute in Nahunta, Georgia. He told Mayor West he had already spent thousands and didn't want to, "waste more dollars" to find out that his legal hands were tied. The mayor then took that request to then-City Attorney Jay Stroman. WHRO News reports a few days later Rick West heard from his step brother-in-law that the dispute had been handled after calls from Chesapeake city attorneys to Georgia officials. Experts say there are no explicit laws prohibiting such actions in Virginia, but it raises ethical concerns about the use of government resources for personal matters.