Ethics Complaint Attorney Fee Update. Too Little Too Late?

In an interesting twist, on Tuesday City Attorney Jim Dye counseled the City Commission to essentially ignore the request made by attorney Richard Harrison to reimburse his client for attorneys fees and costs associated with John Cagnina's stumbling attempt at an ethics complaint. As you can read HERE, Dye has apparently come to the conclusion that Cagnina's folly was so pitiful, so incompetent, that any thinking person should have known it required no defense, or at least no immediate defense and therefore none should have been mounted. He gets paid to interpret Florida law in such a way as to ultimately protect the pocketbooks of the taxpayers of the City of Anna Maria. If this is his interpretation, then so be it, but it calls into question other concerns.

One must give Mr. Dye this much: he is absolutely right about Cagnina's effort at being an ethics cop. It stunk from the beginning. But given Mr. Dye's interpretation of Florida law, one that -from our view- is arguable at best, did he not then have an obligation to advise the City accordingly way back in May when the thing was filed, not now, after the damage has been done? Who knows, had the powers that be been given such advise and an opportunity to impress upon Mr. Cagnina the impotence of his ways, perhaps Cagnina may have taken his own opportunity to quietly pull the doomed complaint and go home. That didn't happen.

Oh and one more thing...after the "Read more" jump below:

Since when should any public official charged with serious ethics violations be expected to sit around on his or her hands instead of taking immediate and affirmative steps to protect themselves, their families and their office? Whether one likes it or not, in this day and time that necessarily includes retaining counsel and aggressively attacking the charges. To say differently is simply disengenuous. Is it Mr. Dye's position that should a public official in a different jurisdiction seek to retain his services to fight ethics charges he would tell them to sit back and wait it out to see what happens? Only he can answer that but perhaps it is a question the City Commission should ask. Like, tonight.

Bill Yanger