Assistant city attorney William Hanzer outlines how to file complaints with Sandy Springs Board of Ethics
April 08, 2026 | Sandy Springs, Fulton County, Georgia
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Assistant City Attorney William Hanzer visited the Sandy Springs Board of Ethics at its April 8, 2026 meeting to introduce himself and explain how the board handles complaints and advisory matters. The board met in Sandy Springs and declared a quorum before moving to new business.
Hanzer told members they should consult the city's governing texts for details on their authority. “You basically go by that. We have an ethics ordinance. It's in the charter and, uh, you have bylaws,” Hanzer said, characterizing the board as having “quasi-judicial powers” that allow it to hold hearings, issue advisory opinions and submit recommendations to the mayor and city council.
He explained the intake process for complaints: “There's actually a complaint form that's in the ordinance and what they would do, they would fill that out and submit it to the clerk. So, Raquel would get it, she would forward it to you guys and me and that would initiate the process,” Hanzer said. Once a complaint is before the board, Hanzer said, members can hold a hearing, issue an opinion, dismiss frivolous complaints or, when appropriate, refer criminal matters to an outside authority.
Board members noted that formal complaints are rare. When asked if the board had ever received a complaint, one member said it might have happened “a long, long time ago before any of our tenure,” and others observed that the body has been largely underutilized.
Members asked whether complaints are vetted before they reach the board. Hanzer responded that they are not pre-screened by staff: the clerk forwards submissions directly to the board and the city attorney for the board to decide how to proceed.
The board also conducted routine business, recording motions to approve the agenda and minutes, and then moved to adjourn; the transcript contains no vote tallies or named movers for those motions. The meeting adjourned with no additional action items recorded in the transcript.
Hanzer told members they should consult the city's governing texts for details on their authority. “You basically go by that. We have an ethics ordinance. It's in the charter and, uh, you have bylaws,” Hanzer said, characterizing the board as having “quasi-judicial powers” that allow it to hold hearings, issue advisory opinions and submit recommendations to the mayor and city council.
He explained the intake process for complaints: “There's actually a complaint form that's in the ordinance and what they would do, they would fill that out and submit it to the clerk. So, Raquel would get it, she would forward it to you guys and me and that would initiate the process,” Hanzer said. Once a complaint is before the board, Hanzer said, members can hold a hearing, issue an opinion, dismiss frivolous complaints or, when appropriate, refer criminal matters to an outside authority.
Board members noted that formal complaints are rare. When asked if the board had ever received a complaint, one member said it might have happened “a long, long time ago before any of our tenure,” and others observed that the body has been largely underutilized.
Members asked whether complaints are vetted before they reach the board. Hanzer responded that they are not pre-screened by staff: the clerk forwards submissions directly to the board and the city attorney for the board to decide how to proceed.
The board also conducted routine business, recording motions to approve the agenda and minutes, and then moved to adjourn; the transcript contains no vote tallies or named movers for those motions. The meeting adjourned with no additional action items recorded in the transcript.
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