Independent Editor,
Woodhull Township board wastes money on attorneys. At the Woodhull Township meeting on Oct, 5, the township’s interim supervisor, Diana Hasse, reported that legal expenses since she took over in May through the end of September totaled $20,000! And there have been more expenses since then.
Hasse hired a $200/hour law firm to file a lawsuit against the former supervisor, Pam Slee. Hasse claims that Slee did not return all township property and records. At the meeting, Hasse blamed Slee for the majority of the legal expenses. Among other things, Hasse said that the law firm was needed to respond to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests – including one from Slee that asked the township board to tell her what
property and records were not returned. Hasse told us she did not respond to that FOIA request because Slee should know what was not returned. But she doesn’t. After she resigned, Slee gave a flash drive to Treasurer Jim Cribbs that contained all of the township records that she had.
On top of that, the law firm obtained a temporary restraining order (TRO) and Injunction from the court based on trumped-up allegations. They used that to illegally enter Slee’s home and take not only her computer, but also her husband’s computer to copy the hard drives so that they could search for no one knows what. I’m not making this up.
I attended the court hearing in which Judge Matthew Stewart was clearly annoyed with Hasse’s attorney, William Fahey, for the unlawful actions of his law firm. The judge threw out the TRO and the Injunction, but it doesn’t end here. The law firm continues to advise Hasse and Cribbs that they have a case; so more of the township’s savings will be spent on this political fishing expedition. It is unfortunate for all of us in the township that Hasse and Cribbs do not seem to realize that the law firm’s advice is solely for the monetary benefit of Fahey Schultz Burzych Rhodes PLC. That law firm is, and will continue to be, the only winner in this.
Susan Parker, Woodhull Township