Confidence or Contempt?

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Sun, Jan 04, 2009, 3:07 pm  //  g.h.kirsch

Yes, that's them. Our poster boys for term limits; surely prima facie evidence that length in office should never be considered a measure of public service.

If you were unable to find sufficient reason to replace our County Exec Pete Kremen and that legal eagle, Dave McEachran the last
time 'round, after living with their tomfoolery all these years, how about that salary scam they pulled on the county?

If that didn't send you over the edge, I've got a special investment opportunity in Brooklyn you'll find interesting. Are these guys confidence artists or what?

While familiarity with the office might appear an asset, too much seems to breed contempt.

The Mark

Every good con man knows the essential trick of the trade is trust. If you have the trust of the “mark” almost anything is possible. And of course that's the essence of elected office, having the taxpayers' trust.

And every attorney goes out of their way to convince those they represent that, not only should their advice be above doubt, only they can understand the complexities of the law. The client needn't worry.

The Con

In what was a sadly under investigated event, two elected officials found a way to circumvent the legislative branch trying to limit compensation to them, exploit the trust our representatives placed in them, and, in what I can only characterize as contempt, reach deeper into the public purse.

McEachran understood that if the council's planned policy changes were delayed past July 1, he would automatically receive a raise substantially above what the council had decided. Aware Kremen's salary was still, for the time, tied to his own, he explained the benefits of delay to the executive whose department was processing the changes.

Neither of them shared the critical deadline looming before the council's resolution on salaries was pulled, just ahead of the deadline, assuring that its passage would be delayed beyond the critical date.

The Sting

So it seems McEachran met with Kremen, explained the situation and, advised of the deadline, Kremen saw to it that the council's policy changes were delayed long enough for the two to start taking the increased salaries. To err is human, to benefit is divine.

Then, after starting to take the increased compensation even while the council, still unawares, went about giving them what they had decided was an appropriate increase, the two quietly accepted a second raise. The old double dip.

Only when a list of county employees and officials' compensation was published did the council and the public realize they'd been had. But, according to their trusted legal advisor, it was too late to do anything about it.

How much did these guys try to get us for? My guess is something in the low seven digit range. Though I think it would be interesting if the county published what the cost would have been, it will probably take an objective accountant to calculate it and do the actuarial work required.

Epilogue

So when this little scam was discovered most of the council was outraged. Sam Crawford made quite a ta-do of the affair, very publicly feigning enormous outrage at the moral and fiscal impropriety of the whole thing.

But he wasn't sufficiently outraged to join the majority of the council in resolving to reverse the dirty deed. With Crawford and Caskey-Schrieber dissenting, the council actually undid the scheme, in spite of McEachran's lieutenant effectively claiming, “we gotcha.”

Kremen, called on the carpet, waved some document in which he had allegedly informed the council members of the automatic raise. But later, when the document was examined, it was not immediately possible to determine where that information might have been conveyed.

When his turn came, McEachran's response was really wonderful. Something like, “They can't expect me to think of everything they need to know.” Wow! Didn't seem that hard to think of telling Kremen. Why was it so hard to think to tell the council? Or was it just too tempting not to?

Then came that strange magic that often takes place behind closed doors at the county courthouse. Hardly a week later, in an all too common example of their resolve, the council reversed its reversal. Or more precisely, Fleetwood, Kelly and Nelson reversed themselves.

The deal? Let the pickpockets keep some of our money. We can afford it. Let there be no hard feelings.

The Credits

Why? Somebody should ask Seth Fleetwood why. You needn't ask Bob Kelly ( he probably couldn't tell you,) or Ward Nelson (he probably wouldn't tell you.) And Sam Crawford still wants you to remember how outrageous he thought it was.

Laurie had voted against reversing the salary grab originally, but voted against reversing the reversal in the end. Go figure.

And Pete Kremen thinks he was just following the advice of his lawyer. Trouble is, McEachran's the council's lawyer. According to state law county prosecutors represent the state, and their county's legislative body.

His exchange with Kremen hardly seems to have furthered the council's objectives. And given his role as legal advisor to the legislative branch, his failure to inform them that delay would result in his own windfall is a breach of his duty, and a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct all attorneys are obliged to respect.

Of course somebody has to stand up to him before the propriety of his behavior will ever be reviewed. The notion that his duty is limited to “just answering questions” is absurd.

Now it's his office's responsibility to answer that question and determine that the law has not been broken. But then, is anyone in that office going to investigate him? Do you suppose he'll ask that an independent prosecutor review his actions? Right.

After talking with local attorneys who practice criminal law, to see if there was anyone who might be a candidate, I got more laughs than Groucho Marx in a theater filled with nitrous oxide. Taking on McEachran is out of the question, given his plea bargaining franchise and their memories of poor Bill Johnson who was naively idealistic enough to once run against our boy.

Maybe Seth Fleetwood, should he become chairman of the county council, and given his understanding of legal ethics, will get the state AG's office to look into it. Or maybe he'll ask the bar association to review this matter. Right.

Wait, wasn't Seth part of the team that ran the double reverse? Do you think Seth, like most local lawyers, might just be too intimidated by our prosecuting attorney? Asked once if he'd consider running against McEachran he almost peed his pants.

The End

Given the caliber and courage of the council as a group, on any scale of difficulty, the whole thing was right up there with taking candy from kids. Oh sure, some of them stood up and complained, but they were left out in front while their weak-kneed brethren made deals in the background.

In the end it was sort of like this. Unbeknownst to you, I take the sandwich out of your lunch pail in the coat room. At lunch time you notice it's gone and catch me eating it. I give you half of it back, and every thing's ok. Boy, everyone will think twice before snatching your sandwich!

So what is it? Should we have confidence in them? Do they have contempt for us? Should we have contempt for them? Don't struggle with it. It ain't that hard to figure out. It's one of those things you learned in kindergarten.

What's really embarrassing is that none of our electeds even think it's serious enough to warrant investigation.

Related Links:

-> Kremen’s pay raise; McEachran’s machinations - NwCitizen, Nov 10, 08
-> Sam Taylor exposes county council machinations - NwCitizen, Oct 23, 08

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