In the Central Texas town of Temple, elected officials have been making big money off city contracts.

On Sunday, the Temple Daily Telegram reported that District 4 council member Russell Schneider has secured a staggering $3.19 million in city contracts through his firm R.T. Schneider Construction since 2005. The paper also reported that Mayor Bill Jones, elected in 2002, owned interest in trucking and steel companies that have done more than $100,000 in business with Temple over the last four years.

While other cities prohibit elected officials from doing business with the city they represent, Temple has no such provision. Naturally, Jones thinks that's a good thing.

“I think it’s silly to prohibit a council member from doing business with the city if it’s to the benefit of the city,” Jones told reporter Fred Afflerbach, who broke the story. “Just as long as the council member announces there’s a conflict and doesn’t participate in the vote, there’s just absolutely nothing wrong with that."

But Texas Watchdog editor Trent Seibert, who was interviewed for the piece, says that merely recusing yourself from a vote doesn't erase the conflict a lawmakers have when they make money off contracts with entities they directly oversee.

“There’s not enough distance here. It’s a problem of ethics. Every time that one of these elected officials gets a sweet contract from the city, questions are going to be raised in the minds of the citizens of Temple,” Seibert said. “Let’s say it’s clean as can be - it’s hands-off, we don’t have any discussion - that question is still going to be in people’s minds. It’s going to leave a bad taste in people’s mouths.”

Check out the full story here.