County Commissioner Tim Boyd told members of the Pachyderm Club on Monday that East Ridge Mayor Brent Lambert got thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from developers, then used it to pay off his debt to himself from a County Commission campaign four years earlier.
During a debate between the two County Commission District 8 contenders, incumbent Boyd said, "That is the kind of thing that creates cynicism from the public."
He added, "I don't think that's good judgment. I don't think that's being a good public official. I don't think that's good anything."
Mayor Lambert rose to say the debt was not for the 2014 County Commission race, but for his mayoral race that year.
He said, "There's nothing illegal about it. There's nothing shady about it."
Mayor Lambert said, "There's a lot more to this story that we all will find out soon - very, very soon."