Having read the recent statement from Mr. Lindsey that was read during the March 2 Peachtree City Council Meeting, I have come to ask: Why has the law firm continued to seek the renewal of its contract with Peachtree City?

In his statement, Mr. Lindsey stated, “Rather, we have represented the city at hourly rates which are far below our standard hourly rates ... We have also sent two, and sometimes three, lawyers to meetings and yet only charged for one lawyer.... For the past two years, our firm's annual billings to the city have been just over $100,000. For both years, this represented less than one-thirtieth (1/30th) of the total income of our firm.”

Webb, Stuckey and Lindsey have sought to renew their contract with the city even while being scrutinized under the light of “an appearance” of conflicts of interest. This “appearance” of conflicts of interest have been documented in many articles and letters to the editor in our local papers.

In my mind, when our city leaders and key city power figures, including our legal representation, have relationships or engages in activities on matters that even “appear” to be in conflict with the citizens' interests, they should seek to remedy the situation. (Again, this is only my opinion.)

This remedy should go beyond getting the only confirmed outside conflict of interest opinion from an unnamed journalism and ethics professor.

When Webb, Stuckey and Lindsey seeks to do a service for free, or at a substantial discount, as pointed out by Mr. Lindsey, as a concerned citizen in Peachtree City, I have to wonder: What's in it for them? And what ever it is, is it good for the current residents of our city?

Robert Rothley
Peachtree City

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