When can one break the law?
Opinion January 24, 2016
John Mullinix
The Chairman of the Fannin County Board of Commissioners, Bill Simonds wrote a $7,450 check, from county funds, to the law firm of Balch and Bingham. This check was written to partially pay that law firm’s legal bill stemming from last year’s lawsuit that Chairman Bill Simonds filed against the Board of Commissioners challenging their right to change our local legislation via home rule. Balch and Bingham represented Chairman Simonds in his efforts to get the law created by the board overturned.
Where does the law come into play. The engagement letter that the Chairman signed includes the following verbiage: “By executing this engagement letter in your capacity as Chairman of the Fannin County Board of Commissioners, you acknowledge that you have, or have obtained, the requisite authority to engage this firm.” The county’s local act, the state law that governs how the county is governed, reserves the right to enter into contracts to the entire Board of Commissioners saying “(6) To authorize contracts, except purchases otherwise provided for herein, involving the expenditure of County funds.” In other words, the Chairman cannot enter the county into any contract without the approval of the entire board.
Next, the Chairman’s purchasing authority on the date of the check was $4,500. Recently passed local legislation set the Chairman’s purchasing limit to that figure. His justification for writing the larger check was that his purchasing authority was $7,500 at the time the contract was signed. Had the contract been legally executed with Board approval, he could have written any sized check. Since it was not, if the chairman had any authority to write that check at all, the largest check he could have written would have been $4,500.
The next question one has to ask is should the county have to pay any of the Chairman’s legal fees in this case? Throughout the lawsuit, Chairman Simonds promised the public that he was paying his own legal fees which clearly is not the case. There is some Georgia Supreme Court precedent for this in the third case of Krieger v. Walton County. Commissioner Krieger sued Walton County three times and each case made it to the Georgia Supreme Court. In the first suit, the court set aside a lower court ruling that allowed a commission to change items reserved in the local act by resolution. The second case upheld the lower court ruling that a commission could make changes by the Home Rule provision in the Georgia Constitution. The third time Commissioner Krieger sued the Walton County commissioners for reimbursement of his legal fees. The Georgia Supreme Court ruled that he was not entitled to reimbursement.
Chairman Simonds sued the county Board of Commissioners saying that he was paying his legal fees out of his pocket. He sued over an issue that had already been decided by the Georgia Supreme Court against him. Now he is making payment on a contract that was executed improperly, according to our local act. He is not entitled to reimbursement of his legal fees by the county.
When is one allowed to break the law?
1 Comment
Wow, that is a very good question Mr. Mullinix. When is one allowed to break the law? It seem like if you are elected to chairman of the Fannin County Commission you can break the law again and again. I have heard the post commissioners’ question at commission meetings why the chairman keeps making purchases over the spending limit without taking the necessary steps to go thru the board of commissioners. So it appears even if the post commissioners bring up the issue of possible improprieties nothing gets done to correct the spending issue. Wow, I would no more think about signing a document that asks me if I have the authority to sign when I do not. I would no more think about writing a check for a purchase that is over my spending limit.What is the necessary step to hold our elected officials accountable? Do we need to wait until election time? Mr. Simonds is up for re-election this year!!! Do citizens in our county even know what is going on? Please wake up Fannin County citizens.