By MONROE ROARK
mroark@thecitizennews.com
and By DAVE HAMRICK
dhamrick@TheCitizenNews.com

The Citizen has ended its lawsuit against the city of Fayetteville after being satisfied that the city met its disclosure responsibilities concerning the case of former City Manager Mike Bryant.

A motion for voluntary dismissal without prejudice was filed June 13 in Fayette County Superior Court, according to Don Johnson, attorney for The Citizen. The newspaper will not pursue the matter further or attempt to recover legal fees, he said.

“After we filed the suit, the city began to make disclosure,” Johnson said. “They should have disclosed everything before the suit was filed. It's regrettable we had to file the suit.

“The paper feels vindicated in trying to get the people of the community information they have a right to know about what's going on at their City Hall,” he added.

Mayor Kenneth Steele announced the dismissal publicly at Monday night's City Council meeting. His only comment at that time was, “I hope this gets as prominent a headline in the paper as the original announcement to file the suit.” Steele said he would probably comment further at a later date.

The suit, filed in February, sought to force the city to release records concerning Bryant's recent month-long suspension. The suit also questioned the legality of the council's hearing of any complaints and any evidence against Bryant in executive session, closed to the public.

City Council suspended Bryant with pay Jan. 12, following discussion in a closed session. Council members steadfastly declined to reveal the reason for the action, except to say that at least one city employee had brought complaints, and Bryant was suspended pending an investigation.

Bryant resigned in February following City Council's unanimous approval of a negotiated separation agreement. Both Bryant and the city agreed to file no future legal action concerning his termination.

A lawyer hired by city attorney David Winkle to investigate the matter was scheduled to take depositions from witnesses in February, but lawyers for the city and Bryant worked out a separation agreement at the last minute, making the depositions unnecessary.

“At the present time, City Council has not considered matters described [as] ... evidence or hearing argument on charges filed to determine disciplinary action or dismissal of a public officer or employee,” wrote Mayor Steele in a Feb. 16 reply to The Citizen's request to see records in the case.

In response to a formal written request for records just before the suit was filed, Steele cited the potential for lawsuits and the right of attorneys and clients to consult in private as reasons the meeting was conducted in closed session and the records could not be released.

Cal Beverly, editor-publisher of The Citizen, charged that the Jan. 12 meeting should have been conducted in public, along with any other meetings where information about the complaints was discussed.