The County Commission voted 6-4 on Wednesday to no longer cover legal costs for County Mayor Weston Wamp in his court battle with County Attorney Rheubin Taylor.
Voting in favor were David Sharpe, Warren Mackey, Greg Beck, Joe Graham, Steve Highlander and Jeff Eversole. Against were Chairman Chip Baker, Mike Chauncey, Lee Helton and Gene-o Shipley.
The commission did vote unanimously to continue paying its attorney in the case, John Konvalinka, as well as former Judge Neil Thomas, who represents County Attorney Taylor.
Commissioners who voted no on the resolution to pay Judge Thomas and not pay the Wamp attorney, indicated they did not want to spend any more money on legal costs of the suit.
Mr. Konvalinka was earlier paid $10,000. Judge Thomas said his charges going back to October are $32,600.
The county has paid the Wamp attorney, Barret Albritton, $24,500.
Chairman Baker said the case has already cost the county some $71,000. Attorney Konvalinka said it likely would be another $25,000 total legal costs to take the case through summary judgment and some $200,000 if it goes to trial.
Commissioner Sharpe asked the county mayor twice if he was willing to withdraw the Taylor termination, and he said no on both occasions.
County Mayor Wamp said, "The important thing, again, that we should flesh out, and the community supports us in fleshing out, is how this process works. Not whether y'all can bully me by suggesting that we wouldn't."
The county mayor interjected, "Let me finish. By suggesting that you would withhold legal representation from the county mayor of Hamilton County is effectively a tactic that it feels certainly an intent on forcing my hand in not terminating the county attorney."
County Mayor Wamp was asked directly by Commissioner Sharpe on two occasions if he would withdraw his firing of County Attorney Taylor and he replied both times, "No."
He said he only hired counsel after County Attorney Taylor filed suit and the commission hired attorney Konvalinka. He said he wanted a legal ruling from the judge, and he did not want an extended case or trial. "I don't want it to become some bloody court battle or be a protracted fight."
He said he believed that the projected costs of the case "are greatly exaggerated."
County Mayor Wamp said it was important to determine if the current county attorney setup is valid, and he said he believes most county residents want that decided. He said different counties handle the legal department differently and "sometimes it is best to get things sorted out. I think the community would like to see clarity."
Chairman Baker said, "Speaking of clarity, Knox County is a little bit bigger than us. They have two and a half time the number of attorneys and twice the budget at we do in Hamilton County. I think we're getting a pretty good deal.
"For clarity, I think the people of Hamilton County want this resolved now."
He also said, "We did not want to be in this position, but the Chancery Court judge placed us in this case.
The resolution to pay attorney Konvalinka referred to "the county mayor's unilateral attempt to terminate the services of Rheubin Taylor as Hamilton County attorney."
Attorney Konvalinka said he would submit a monthly bill as well as an update on the case.
County Finance Director Lee Brouner said he had been in talks with the state Comptroller's Office and there were concerns about the "open-ended" arrangement with attorney Konvalinka. He said, "We do not know if it is legal for a local government to do a budget based on a 'moving target.' "
Commissioner Eversole said, "This is frustrating, Mr. Mayor. Nobody on this bench more than me wants to work with you." But he said the commission had voted more than once 11-0 to keep attorney Taylor. He said, "This is distracting. This is taking our focus off what we were elected to do. Let's move on. Let's get past this. It's mind boggling to think of the dollars involved here and what it could get to."
Commissioner Sharpe called it "a total abuse of taxpayer funds" for "a witch hunt."
He said that everything the county mayor had said against County Attorney Taylor "has been disproven." He said it was "mind boggling" for the commission to be asked to fund the Wamp legal costs.
Commissioner Helton said, "This is getting sort of asinine. This is a clown show. It's like one of those tabloids. This is getting a little ridiculous. We need to be the grown ups in the room, guy. This is a waste - a big waste. We can't function as a body because of this sideshow."
Commissioner Shipley said, "The only way I will pay these bills is that we end it right here today."
Commissioner Graham said he never received any notification that the Taylor contract was being terminated. He said, "It happened on my birthday. It was a horrible birthday present."
He said, "We thought this was over several Fridays ago. You, your attorney, everybody stood there and agreed to honor the resolutions that we passed."
Commissioner Graham told the county mayor, "The county attorney's office could be your most valuable resource if you would just use them."
County Mayor Wamp said, "We're without legal counsel that we trust." He was beginning to say that some other county officials and department heads also lacked trust in the Taylor office when there was a call for a vote.
Chancellor Jeff Atherton has set a hearing in the Wamp-Taylor case for next Monday.
Mayor Wamp's office released the following statement:
“Candidly, the lawsuit Rheubin Taylor filed against me has not been a distraction to my office. From funding a new Tyner Academy to negotiating large-scale economic development deals, we continue to work with commissioners to serve Hamilton County. It is important that we clarify the ambiguity around the contract my predecessor entered into with Mr. Taylor, which only a court of law can provide. We expect this matter to be resolved in the near future and maintain that it is in the best interest of Hamilton County to reform and modernize the County Attorney’s office.
"And to be clear, today the County Commission voted 6-4 to use taxpayer dollars to fund a lawsuit brought against county government by a private citizen.”