The Greenwood City Council voted 5-2 Tuesday to pay a legal bill for the five Democratic councilmen who were sued by Mayor Carolyn McAdams over a 2009 city attorney appointment and then countersued her.
The invoice from attorney Willie Perkins is $15,868.85. It represents Perkins’ work from July 23, 2009, to Feb. 14, 2012.
The vote to pay it was split along party lines. The five Democratic councilmen — Ronnie Stevenson, Charles McCoy, David Jordan, Tennill Cannon and Carl Palmer — voted for it, and the two Republicans, Johnny Jennings and Lisa Cookston, voted against it.
City Attorney Don Brock said he reviewed Perkins’ bill and believes it was appropriate for representing a client in lower court and then an appeal.
“In my opinion, it was reasonable. It was not exorbitant for providing those type services,” Brock said today.
But Cookston said she believes it’s an illegal expenditure, and she predicted the state auditor will make the five councilmen pay the money back.
McAdams declined to discuss the issue in-depth this morning.
“No vote ever comes from the mayor. It was simply up to them whether that invoice was paid,” she said.
McAdams took office in July 2009. The independent had just defeated Democrat Sheriel Perkins, Willie Perkins’ wife.
McAdams sent then-City Attorney James Littleton a termination letter and nominated the Abraham and Rideout firm for the position.
The City Council voted 5-2 against hiring Abraham and Rideout, and Littleton said he would continue to serve as a holdover appointment until the council approved a replacement.
Later that month, McAdams sued Littleton and the five Democratic members who voted against Abraham and Rideout. The two Republicans weren’t included.
McAdams tried to dismiss the councilmen from the lawsuit twice — once before oral arguments began and once during them — but Perkins would not agree to them being dismissed, according to court records.
Chancellor Joe Webster ruled in August 2009 that Littleton couldn’t serve as a holdover. At the same time, Webster dismissed the five councilmen as defendants and took under advisement whether to order McAdams to pay their legal costs.
The state Supreme Court later upheld the chancellor’s decision.
In July 2010, Webster dismissed the councilmen’s motion to have the mayor pay their legal costs. He said McAdams’ choice to include the councilmen “may have been ill advised” but wasn’t frivolous or intended for harassment.
In August 2010, the City Council hired Perkins to pursue an appeal to force McAdams to pay their legal fees as punishment for including them in the lawsuit. McAdams vetoed, but the council overrode the veto by a 5-2 vote.
Cookston said Brock — whom the mayor and council had agreed upon in the meantime — warned against pursuing the matter further at that time.
In April 2012, the Mississippi Court of Appeals voted 7-1 to uphold Webster’s decision not to sanction McAdams for including the councilmen in the lawsuit against Littleton.
The council could have appealed further to the state Supreme Court but decided to let the matter die.
Perkins submitted his bill to the city on Friday.
Brock said the council clearly had the right to hire Perkins initially. He said it enters a gray area when it comes to them pursuing the appeal.
He said he called the state Attorney General’s Office about it and “they did not have a strong opinion either way.”
Like any other bill, it’s subject to audit, he said.
Jordan was the lead plaintiff in the countersuit — David Jordan v. Carolyn McAdams — although he said he didn’t know why they chose to put his name on it.
He said the city attorney nomination process includes both a nomination by the mayor and an approval vote by the council under Greenwood’s form of government. He said that it acts as a check and balance and that the council was sued after using its right to vote against the nominee.
When the councilmen were sued, they had the right to defend themselves, Jordan said.
He said the City Council acts by a majority vote and so Perkins was representing the whole council even though two voted against hiring him.
Cookston disagreed.
She said resolutions passed by the council to pay the bill say Perkins represented the City Council itself, but Perkins’ invoice and all court proceedings had him as only representing the five councilmen individually.
She said she wrote Perkins a letter asking to be included in deliberations about the lawsuit. However, he never responded, and she never received any information, she said.
Cookston said state law allows the City Council to hire outside counsel if it’s being sued, but it is not allowed to pursue lawsuits itself.
She said the council rushed in deciding to pay the bill after it received it Friday. The agenda was amended to include the matter for Tuesday’s meeting.
She noted that Perkins declined to have the council dropped from the lawsuit when McAdams requested it and said she believes it’s personal.
“It’s just wrong. ... It was really just picking up a vendetta,” Cookston said.
Cookston said that the council has worked to build relationships since the 2009 city attorney controversy and that she doesn’t want to ruin those. But she said she is obligated to speak up because taxpayer money is involved.
• Contact Charlie Smith at 581-7235 or csmith@gwcommonwealth.com.
