Records show she introduced the legislation and voted for it in March 2011, a year after the Metro YMCA says Sutton and at least one of her staff members began receiving their free memberships.
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The facility's website lists the cost of a full-priced family membership as $91 per month, which amounts to$1,092 per year. Channel 2 Action News estimates the total value of the five memberships over the varying time periods at $27,300 retail.
"The gifts of free membership given by the YMCA and accepted by Commissioner Barnes-Sutton, her family members and staff are a clear violation of the DeKalb County Ethics Code. Further, because the YMCA benefited from legislation considered and passed by the Commission, I believe the Y violated state law by not registering a local lobbyist and reporting the membership as lobbyist expenditures (or gifts)," Perry emailed in a statement.
“I don’t know what they get,” Sutton responded.