Wendy Pitts Reeves responds to the conflict of interest controversy at her blog [1]. Here's an excerpt:

I will be resigning from the Highlands' Blount County provider panel this week. I have been reluctant to do so previously out of concern for how that might affect the handful of clients I currently see under that plan. However, I'll make sure they receive the care they need either way. This loss of income on my part is not really necessary, as I do not have any conflict of interest with the county (we've never voted on any contract with an insurance company for medical/mental health benefits; I do not receive any funds from Highlands Health Partnership; I have no control over what provider list they choose to use or, for that matter, who employees choose to use for their mental health care). Still, I don't want any of you to worry and I'm trying to keep things as simple and clear cut as possible.

Many of you may remember that I resigned from the Human Resource and Insurance Committee back at the start of this year, just in case I could some day have a conflict.

She will also be submitting the issue to the Ethics Committee since, as she notes, no one else has. And she will be recusing herself from the discussion, since it involves her. Read her statement at her blog [2].

From what is known so far, it appears that Commissioner Reeves has been aboveboard and acted with the utmost integrity throughout all of this, unlike some of her detractors. It seems like we need more of the former and less of the latter in local government.