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http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2010/1...8f155294256.txt

Friedman, Milsap say board violated policy

Issue involves county’s legal representation
By Alicia Ebaugh
Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, December 9, 2010 5:12 PM CST
LA PORTE — Former county attorney Shaw Friedman and District 1 Commissioner-elect Willie Milsap allege county commissioners violated policy when they voted Tuesday to extend a legal contract with their current lawyers without having the item on their agenda.

But commissioners insist they had to put a stop to Friedman’s attempts to “bully” his way back into a lucrative position with the county that pays upwards of $100,000 a year.

Commissioners have historically appointed the county’s attorneys at the first meeting of the year, but at the end of Tuesday’s meeting, all three commissioners unanimously voted to retain Braje, Nelson and Janes of Michigan City until the end of 2012.

“There was a petition being circulated by the Sheriff (Mike Mollenhauer) and signed by five department heads saying they didn’t feel our current county attorney was representing them fairly,” Commission President Barbara Huston said. “We’ve never had any problems with (Craig) Braje and his firm. It’s one thing if they would have submitted a letter requesting reconsideration of county attorneys, but going about it like that was the last straw. It didn’t have Shaw’s name on it, but it may as well have.”

But Huston admitted commissioners never saw the petition, and only heard about it from other elected officials asked to sign it. Mollenhauer said Wednesday the letter, which he never presented them, only asked commissioners to open the selection process for county attorneys.

“It’s nothing about Mr. Braje personally. I feel he does a good job. But I thought it would be a good idea to open up the process so other elected officials can see why the attorney who represents them was selected,” he said. “After a while, I decided not to even give it to them and I threw it out.”

Friedman denied he asked the sheriff to write the letter and ask for signatures.

“No one pressures Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer to do anything,” Friedman wrote in a statement Wednesday. “He’s his own man, and he told me several weeks ago he felt strongly there should be a request for proposals for legal services and he took a petition around to several officeholders to do just that.”

In a Wednesday interview, Milsap said he should have been given the opportunity to vote because he — not outgoing District 1 Commissioner Mike Bohacek — will be the commissioner while the contract is in effect.

“I don’t think a commissioner can vote on a contract that will be in effect when he’s not in office,” he said. Milsap said he was one of the officials who signed Mollenhauer’s letter.

Huston defended the action, saying only two commissioners need to sign a contract to make it legal, and the contract will only extend through the end of her and Commissioner Ken Layton’s terms.

“Even if we voted in January, the vote would still be 2-1,” she said.

Bohacek said he was happy to support the decision of the other commissioners to stick with Braje, as he felt Friedman tried to control the board rather than advise it.

“It was frustrating to deal with the company of a fourth commissioner,” Bohacek said. “It’s been a very enjoyable experience to have an attorney who tells us what is defensible and not defensible, not whether he approves of our actions.”

Milsap alleges retaliation

Willie Milsap said he believes commissioners left him out of the vote in retaliation for his saying he wouldn’t accept the county’s “gold-plated” health insurance policy until it was discussed publicly and approved in a public meeting, and since it isn’t available to other part-time employees.

Barbara Huston said commissioners have paid premiums for their health insurance like every other employee for years.

“Of Indiana counties, 89 of the 92 offer their commissioners insurance,” she said. “We are required to pay into the (Public Employees’ Retirement Fund), and we are on duty 24/7 to serve the county.”

Milsap authorized Friedman, who serves as his personal attorney, to submit an open records request Nov. 27 regarding the insurance matters to see if it was publicly approved. Although Friedman served as county attorney for 20 years, he claimed the issue never came up while he was there.