Wednesday, August 21, 2002
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Wednesday, August 21, 2002 |
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With resignation of city attorney, PTC council is looking for replacement
By JOHN
MUNFORD
Peachtree City has to search for a new city attorney now that current city attorney Rick Lindsey has tendered his resignation effective Sept. 30. Lindsey's resignation was accepted by the City Council during the executive session portion of its meeting Thursday night. He offered to stay on until the end of September to insure a smooth transition to the next city attorney. Lindsey told The Citizen Friday, "I believe it's in my best interest to resign. It's a good time for me to go." "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. The city will prepare requests for proposals from law firms wishing to represent the city as either city attorney, solicitor or both jobs, said Public Information Officer Betsy Tyler. But council will also consider hiring a separate attorney to work in-house for both positions, she added. Lindsey, 44, who also serves as the city's municipal court prosecutor, has been with the city for almost 11 years. Mayor Steve Brown has been one of Lindsey's staunchest 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. Brown and Lindsey have a somewhat contentious history relating to a lawsuit filed against Brown and The Citizen newspaper early in 2000 over a letter to the editor in which Brown criticized Lindsey's law partner, James Webb, in his capacity as city attorney. Following that publicity, Brown ran for mayor in 2001 and won, taking office in January 2002, the same month Lindsey was reappointed as city attorney. 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 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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