Tonganoxie Mayor Jason Ward should recuse himself from participating in future Tonganoxie City Council discussions regarding a proposed Tyson Foods poultry processing plant.

Last week, Tyson announced plans to build the $320 million poultry processing plant near Tonganoxie. The company hopes to bring the plant into production in mid-2019, employing up to 1,600 people with wages between $12 and $15 per hour.

The announcement has spawned fierce opposition in the town of 5,300.

Ward is an attorney with the Kansas City law firm of Shook, Hardy & Bacon. Tyson is a client of the law firm, though Ward said he had not personally worked on any cases involving the company.

Ward has already spoken in favor of the processing plant. Tyson is asking for the city to extend sewer service to the plant at a cost of about $1.3 million.

“Tonganoxie is looking forward to a successful partnership with Tyson Foods,” Ward said when the project was announced. “We have planned for a development of this type for many years by making strategic investments in public infrastructure targeted to support future growth.

“This project will bring much-anticipated opportunities for local residents to enjoy the quality-of-life benefit of working close to home. Tyson has a long history of support for small towns and local markets. They will be a great fit for our community.”

After being challenged about his law firm’s affiliation with Tyson, Ward said he would seek legal advice on the potential conflict of interest. Ward has asked the Tonganoxie city attorney as well as an attorney at his firm to weigh in before he decides how he will approach the subject in the future.

But Ward should understand that, in this instance, the simple appearance of a conflict of interest is reason enough to recuse himself from future discussion and votes involving the Tyson plant. His advocacy of the plant can’t be separated from his law firm’s representation of Tyson, and anything less than recusal will heighten the growing community mistrust of the Tyson project.

There already has been significant secrecy surrounding the plant. Tonganoxie City Council and Leavenworth County Commission officials signed nondisclosure agreements that prohibited them from talking specifically about Tyson’s plans until after the announcement. But it quickly became clear that the plant is contingent upon getting incentives from the city and county. In addition to the $1.3 million the city is being asked to pay to extend sewer service to the plant, Tyson is seeking a 10-year property tax abatement for the 300-acre site and for the site to be rezoned.

City and county government officials have a lot of work to do to win back public trust in their decision making on the Tyson plant, and Mayor Ward’s involvement in any of that decision making will only undercut that trust. The right thing for him to do, regardless of any advice he receives, is to step down from any and all future city discussions involving Tyson.