The standoff between Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp and County Attorney Rheubin Taylor is about to enter its third month.
The assumption was that something would be settled long before now — that a retirement package would be worked out for Taylor and that he would quietly step down, or that Wamp would realize he couldn’t win on forcing the county attorney to retire and would let him serve out his contract.
Neither has happened.
The next steps, unless something changes, are in the hands of Chancery Court, which means taxpayers are on the hook to defend the first-year mayor’s office in a suit filed against Wamp by Taylor in October.
The matter is currently before Chancellor Jeffrey Atherton, who said last week he wouldn’t immediately recuse himself from hearing the lawsuit.