Jonathan Marcus called it a “jaw-dropping conflict of interests.”

For over two decades, Rodney Poole has been a member of City Hall’s Planning Commission , often serving as its chair. And, for much of that same period, Poole has served as vice president and general counsel for The Wilton Companies — a real estate and development company with substantial holdings in the Richmond area .

There’s no state law or city ordinance against that. So long as Poole discloses his business interests to city officials — and he told The Times-Dispatch he is always sure to do so — and recuses himself on certain matters, nothing prevents him from holding both roles.

But according to Marcus — who formerly led a coalition of neighborhood associations that found itself at odds with the Planning Commissi

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