Following a month of stalemate driven by dueling legal arguments, Hamilton County commissioners have given Mayor Weston Wamp until noon Friday to reach an agreement with County Attorney Rheubin Taylor, who the mayor attempted to fire in October.
After meeting in closed session on Wednesday, the commission’s outside attorney, John Konvalinka, verbally recited a proposed resolution instructing him to enforce directives the panel OK’d last month if that deadline was not met. The commission passed it unanimously.
Wamp publicly announced Taylor’s firing Oct. 14, citing private work on county time, destruction of public records and violation of attorney-client privilege. Taylor has offered no public response to the allegations.
Commissioners approved several resolutions the week after Wamp’s announcement that reaffirmed Taylor’s four-year contract and reasserted their control over the county attorney’s office space and equipment. Last week, members were frustrated to learn that Wamp had not restored Taylor’s access to his county computer.
Wamp told the Chattanooga Times Free Press in a phone call Thursday his office is now in compliance with the resolutions, and commissioners have said Taylor’s equipment was returned earlier this week.