Lawyer says 4 council members have conflict of interest Assistant City Solicitor Kate DeSimone submitted a legal opinion to City Council today saying that four members should not vote on approving payment of a $10,706 legal expense because there is a conflict of interest.Really, I care to know what Tonya Payne is going to do.
If they do, they 'shall immediately forfeit their office,' Ms. DeSimone wrote.
Ms. DeSimone said the four -- President Doug Shields and members Bruce Kraus, William Peduto and Ricky Burgess -- already were in conflict by taking part in a discussion and preliminary vote on paying the bill.
I'm uploading a video of the meeting last week. Watch for it at Rauterkus.blip.tv.
I I said last week, worth repeating, the best way out of this is to have Hugh McG, to make his bill drop to ZERO, or perhaps $.04 or perhaps $400. At $400, each of the guys would only have to pay $100.
If Hugh's work became "gratis," then the matter goes away. Poof. Mr. Kraus suggested a similar pathway for Lamar, weeks ago. Kraus asked Lamar to act in a way that was counter to its own 'commercial interest.' Lamar had received a permit to build the sign. Kraus wanted them to decline that permit out of 'good faith.' Kraus ranted (and this was weeks ago, around when he called for a moratorium on all billboards for six months) that a voluntary solution from Lamar was the right thing to do. That gesture, sweet as it was, didn't play out then. Well, same need for a voluntary move holds today for the lawyers who worked with the renegade four.
This video is from the meeting. It lasts about an hour.
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Lawyer says 4 council members have conflict of interest
Monday, May 12, 2008
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Assistant City Solicitor Kate DeSimone submitted a legal opinion to City Council today saying that four members should not vote on approving payment of a $10,706 legal expense because there is a conflict of interest.
If they do, they "shall immediately forfeit their office," Ms. DeSimone wrote.
Ms. DeSimone said the four -- President Doug Shields and members Bruce Kraus, William Peduto and Ricky Burgess -- already were in conflict by taking part in a discussion and preliminary vote on paying the bill.
She recommended that they immediately cease such activity, to reduce the likelihood that someone would seek to have them removed from office.
The bill stems from legal actions between four council members and Lamar Advertising regarding a permit the firm received to put a 1,200-square-foot billboard on the Grant Street Transportation Center without public bids, hearings or votes.
The four members hired attorney Hugh McGough of Ward McGough, then submitted legislation to have the city pay the bill. An initial 5-2 vote on Wednesday supported payment. Some council members today suggested that those who incurred the bill should abstain from voting, since they could be forced to pay it from their own pockets if the city doesn't cover it.
"I'd see a conflict of interest there and I would abstain," said Councilman Jim Motznik, who was not part of the dispute with Lamar. The city charter says council members must not vote on anything in which they "have a personal or private interest."
"You had four members who had the courage to do the right thing," countered Mr. Shields. "The only conflict of interest I see is on the other side."
Mr. Shields said he and Mr. Kraus asked city Solicitor George Specter months ago if he could represent them in the disagreement with Lamar stemming from a city approval for a 1,200-square-foot electronic billboard on the Grant Street Transportation Center. "Mr. Specter made it very clear to us that he had a conflict of interest," Mr. Shields said. So the foursome hired Mr. McGough.
Mr. Motznik, though, said that when the four members decided to challenge Lamar, they should have gone through a competitive process to choose a firm, and then sought council approval before incurring a bill. If they want the bill paid now, they should do it out of their office allocations for staff and services, he said.
Lamar got the billboard permit in December without public hearings or votes. Councilman Patrick Dowd appealed the permit, but used private counsel and has said he will pay the bill himself. Mr. Shields, Mr. Kraus, Mr. Peduto and Mr. Burgess then challenged the permit.
Legal wrangling ended, for now, with Lamar settling with Mr. Dowd and agreeing to submit a new permit application that will go before the Zoning Board of Adjustment and the planning commission.
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