Sunday, August 18, 2002
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Sunday, August 18, 2002 |
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PTC's City Attorney says, 'I'm cleared' by report, resigns
By JOHN
MUNFORD and CAL
BEVERLY
Peachtree City's city attorney, who has been criticized by several council members in the past few months, has resigned from the appointive post. The City Council accepted Rick Lindsey's resignation during the executive session portion of its meeting Thursday night. "I'm cleared by the special counsel," Lindsey said Friday afternoon, referring to the report that found no evidence he or others acted illegally in negotiating hotel-motel tax contracts with the city's development and airport authorities last year. "I believe it's in my best interest to resign," Lindsey continued. "It's a good time for me to go." Lindsey, 44, who also serves as the city's municipal court prosecutor, has been with the city for almost 11 years. He offered to remain in his role until Sept. 30 because of several pending legal matters and to prepare "a smooth, seamless passage to your next lawyer." Council has accepted Lindsey's offer to stay until then, said Mayor Steve Brown. Brown has been one of Lindsey's leading critics during the dispute over the legality of the hotel-motel tax contracts, which were executed last year by then-Mayor Bob Lenox. The special attorney hired to compile the report, Winston Denmark, concluded that the contracts are invalid. The report criticized Lindsey for not bringing the contract changes to the council's attention the night the vote occurred. Denmark recommended to council it should take the matter to court to have the contracts declared invalid. "On behalf of the City Council, I would like to thank Rick for the untiring service that he provided for Peachtree City," Brown said in a written statement. "Rick graciously offered to remain in his post until Sept. 30 in order to provide a smooth transition and we gladly accepted his generous offer." In their parting comments, neither Lindsey nor Brown make any mention of the pair's contentious history. Lindsey and his law partner James Webb filed a libel lawsuit against Brown and The Citizen newspaper early in 2000 after a letter to the editor criticized Webb in his capacity as city attorney. Webb was replaced by Lindsey as city attorney, and the suit was dismissed later that summer of 2000. Following that publicity, Brown ran for mayor in 2001 and won, taking office in January 2002. Lindsey was reappointed city attorney the same month. In his letter of resignation, Lindsey said he decided to resign "after much thought and deliberation." "It has been my pleasure to serve as Peachtree City's attorney these many, many years," Lindsey wrote in his resignation. "I wish you the best and hope that you will serve the citizens of our city well."
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