CENTRAL - Last week, a post began floating around social media, claiming ethics complaints have been filed against Central Mayor Wade Evans with the Louisiana Board of Ethics.

During a city council meeting last month, Mayor Wade Evans addressed questions raised over his relationship with a city employee.

"Before that, I sought guidance from the city attorney. The city attorney consulted with a Louisiana ethics attorney, and I discussed the matter with multiple other attorneys as well as Karen White, the LMA's former attorney, and an expert in Louisiana municipal law. The consistent conclusion was that there was nothing illegal or unethical about our relationship," Evans said during a June city council meeting.

A post circulating on social media claims a complaint has been filed with the Louisiana Board of Ethics against Evans, but the mayor says he has not received anything.

"If you read the letter that's circulating, it clearly says your complaint has been logged, here's your docket number. We're going to hear it in executive session on this day; it's not open to the public, you know, and they're insinuating I knew about that. I haven't received anything from ethics," Evans said.

Evans believes the complaints are politically motivated.

"It's troubling to me that a sitting council member has encouraged her supporters to file ethics complaints, and then in turn she's announced running for mayor," Evans said.

The city council member he is referencing, D'Ann Wells, recently announced her candidacy for mayor of central.

"I'm running a mayor campaign, and so I wouldn't even have time; most of my calls are, 'Can I get your support?'," Wells said.

Wells says, as an elected official, she wouldn't file a complaint against another elected official.

"What I would do if I had a question, I would write a letter to the ethics board and ask for an advisory opinion, which would be the route to go," Wells said.

The social media post also raised questions over the salary for the public information officer position, who initially was hired as the executive assistant, but Evans says her duties began to expand.

"The finance director recommended we make her an exempt employee, so she didn't have to keep track of overtime hours, but the rule with that at the time was $58,000 was the salary that they had to make," Evans said.

Evans says the only raise that took place after was a cost-of-living increase, which was included in the budget.

We did reach out to the Louisiana Board of Ethics to find out if any complaints were filed against Mayor Evans, and WBRZ was told that information regarding complaints is confidential unless public charges are filed by the board.