ROCK SPRINGS — A Rock Springs City Council member is the subject of an ethics complaint filed by a city employee. 

Councilman Rick Milonas posted a short video on his Facebook account Friday, saying he received the complaint Tuesday after speaking with the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office the previous day about a corruption allegation involving the city. Milonas said the complaint alleged he was “abusive, hurt (the employee’s) feelings, and created a hostile work environment” in a previous social media video Milonas made about the city’s new logo. He said a public hearing will take place next month regarding the hostile workplace allegation.

Mayor Max Mickelson said the complaint was made using the Council’s code of ethics that were approved Nov. 4, 2025. Milonas was the only member voting against the code’s adoption.

“The code of ethics only targets people who have trouble following ethics,” Mickelson told SweetwaterNOW. 

The code allows for a public hearing that allows a Council representative to call witnesses and defend themselves against the complaint. The hearing will be presided over by someone not affiliated with the Council and following the hearing, the Council votes on if the accused member should be disciplined. Those options include public censure, loss of committee chair or liaison role, mandated training, and a written warning. 

Milonas has 20 days from the date he received the complaint to submit a written response to the allegation.

Mickelson also said he was made aware of the SCSO investigation Wednesday, saying the city will fully cooperate with the investigation. He is confident the investigation won’t reveal any wrongdoing.

Milonas said he plans to file a complaint against Mickelson for acts Milonas alleges targeted him after being elected in 2024. Milonas says those acts include Mickelson making a sexual assault allegation against Milonas. Mickelson disputes the characterization of that allegation, saying it “is not accurate.” Milonas alleges some of Mickelson’s previous acts violate the Council’s ethics code, claiming Mickelson and the Council are upset he exposed spending related to Councilman Eric Bingham’s wife receiving a $25,000 city contract for public relations services, a $50,000 per year subscription for the city attorney’s office, and spending related to using goats for weed control in the Bitter Creek.

“They are very upset I’m exposing the Bitter Creek scam,” he said.

Milonas said he has whistleblower protection, saying “they all better be very, very careful with what they do and say to me.”