Opinion: When will the Taylor/Wamp feud end?

Staff File Photo by Robin Rudd / County Mayor Weston Wamp, right, addresses the County Commission on Nov. 18 while County Attorney Rheubin Taylor listens.
Staff File Photo by Robin Rudd / County Mayor Weston Wamp, right, addresses the County Commission on Nov. 18 while County Attorney Rheubin Taylor listens.

Like a children's game of name-calling, the feud over whether Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp can fire county attorney Rheubin Taylor smolders on — now six weeks long and counting.

You know the particulars. After Wamp was elected and sworn in on Sept. 1, he fired Taylor on Oct. 19, sometime after he met with the 29-year county attorney and offered him an opportunity to retire with honors and a party.

Taylor refused.

Wamp went to plan B, telling several commissioners and the public his reasoning: He had concerns about the private legal work Taylor conducts during county business hours, concerns about breach of attorney-client privilege with the mayor's office, and concerns about previous admissions from Taylor that his office had systematically destroyed thousands of documents that had been sought under open records requests.

In a pique of temper, the county commission, with a handful of new members, bowed up their backs in an effort to put the new and younger mayor in his place. They passed a flurry of resolutions rehiring Taylor and restoring his access to county records -- and his private case records. It seemed there was value in knowing 30 years of courthouse secrets.

Still, Taylor sued Wamp. Apparently it wasn't enough that Taylor drew a salary on our dime. He also represented private clients seeking probate court representation -- like former Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger. All of this went on as we taxpayers also paid Taylor's $182,000 salary, as well as the costs of his office, computer, phone, email -- you know, his whole "private" office overhead.

In Hamilton County Chancery Court last week, Wamp in a counterclaim accused Taylor of operating a "shadow law firm" by conducting his estate cases and private work on county time.

What's more, while Taylor was representing a string of private clients, the county attorney's office used more of our public funds to retain at least three private law firms at a cost of more than $1 million to represent county employees. Those expenses violated county purchasing authority, Wamp's court filing claims.

Wamp's counterclaim also said Taylor directed his employees to no longer attend county staff meetings and to ignore orders from the mayor.

"In view of your recent statement to the press wherein you stated your belief that our entire 'office is conflicted,' as well as Chief of Staff (Claire) McVay's text message to Assistant County Attorney R. Dee Hobbs wherein she stated, '... I have concerns about anyone in your office advising anyone right now,' none of the attorneys of our office will be present at your staff meetings," Taylor wrote in a memo to Wamp on Oct. 24, which was included as an attachment in the filing made Wednesday. "We continue to provide legal assistance to any and all departments of Hamilton County government."

Because Wamp has bowed to the commission's snit and reinstated Taylor, Wamp's counterclaim asserts that Taylor's lawsuit is now moot.

But that likely won't stop the commissioners from continuing to play power politics.

Some of the same 11 commissioners who unanimously rehired Taylor, who spent -- without approval from anyone -- $1 million of our money on attorneys to do his county job while he handled private cases, last week questioned a county request to update the county's purchasing rules that would raise the threshold for competitive bids and proposals from $25,000 to $50,000, a move already in place in Shelby and Knox counties.

Commissioner Warren Mackey called it "government creep" and added that it is "government getting more powerful, bigger, more controlling. It scares me."

The commission is scheduled to vote this week on the change that was presented to them last month by longtime county finance director Lee Brouner.

And in another thump, Chancellor Jeffrey Atherton last week denied a Wamp request that he recuse himself as the judge in Taylor's lawsuit against Wamp.

Wamp's legal counsel submitted that motion Wednesday, asking that the "court" recuse itself and that the matter be assigned to a special judge without a connection to the county or the parties involved.

Wamp's motion cited Atherton's presence in the commission meeting when commissioners talked about the matter and passed resolutions to reinstate Taylor.

Atherton should recuse himself -- not necessarily because he witnessed some of the comments made by the commission, but because no judge in Hamilton County should hear this case.

Frankly, no judge in Hamilton County should have to hear this case.

Taylor should have retired. And the commissioners should have acted like grown-ups.

Clearly, that's too much to expect.

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