According to e-mails obtained through a public information request, Ross, who freelances for The Potpourri and other publications, assisted Thornton in writing the column, along with City Administrator Ryan Kelley.

The column, which Ross said has been a feature in the paper for “several months,” is usually a run-down on what the City is working on in terms of economic development, downtown revitalization projects and other city activity.

In the e-mails, Ross repeatedly sent attachments with “suggestions” for the column, and the e-mails passed between Thornton and Kelley for input before being sent back to Ross.

Ross also discusses “invoices for the mayor’s column suggestions” in the e-mails. In an e-mail dated July 7 to Kelley and Thornton, she writes:

“Here are all my invoices for the mayor’s column suggestions for the past three months. Hope you can forward a check soon as these have been sent each month on a regular bases (sic) and billed the same. Thank you.”

Ross said the column is a “collaborative” effort between herself, Thornton and Kelley.

“There were certain things the Mayor would consult me on and I would advise him on his column,” she said.

Thornton said the Potpourri approached him several months ago about writing his own monthly column. He then asked Ross for assistance in writing it.

“I wanted her to help me with my column to make sure I got the right wording out to the public,” he said.

“We talk on the phone about everything coming up in Magnolia, we brainstorm and talk about our City and I write it and she proofs it and we go from there. The City of Magnolia does not pay for it.”

Thornton said he pays Ross “a very, very minimal amount” out of his own pocket for her help.

In addition to collaborating on the mayor’s column, Ross also writes stories covering city council meetings and city business, which she said is “absolutely not” a conflict of interest.

“I was a small-town news editor,” she said. “I pride myself on being extremely professional.”

“I am a newspaper reporter,” she said. “I get both sides, straight up. If you were to ask the City if they were completely happy with what was in my reporting, I think you would hear a mixed bag, and some would say no.”

Ross said when she was previously an editor for a small-town newspaper it was not uncommon for her to “wear many hats.”

However, Jim Burke, co-founder of the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists and chair of the Center for Ethics Outreach Advisory Board at Loyola University-Chicago, says Ross’ double reporting has “serious ethical violations, there is no doubt about it.”

“There’s a clear conflict of interest,” he said.

Burke said it would be more ethical if Ross told readers she was doing both —collaborating on the pro-city Mayor’s column and also reporting hard news about the City.

But even if she does that, he said, just the “appearance” of a conflict of interest is a violation of the Society of Professional Journalist’s (SPJ) Code of Ethics.

“The appearance of conflict is there,” he said. “And in the code of ethics, it clearly states that even the appearance of conflict of interest should be avoided.”

Under the “Act Independently” section of the Code, it states: “Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.” In the same section, it also states: “Disclose unavoidable conflicts.”

He suggested Ross choose “one or the other.”

“You can’t have it both ways,” he said. “And to not tell your readers you’re doing this makes it even more flagrant.”

The column has been a monthly feature since at least February, according to The Potpourri archives.

Ross, a Tomball resident, has worked in newspapers and publications, including The Tribune, for 15 years.

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