By DAVE HAMRICK
Staff Writer

An insurance consultant dismissed by the Fayette County Commission last week said he will give back money he received for time spent talking to reporters.

"I erred," John Grunden said in a phone interview Friday. "I shouldn't have billed that in that way."

Commissioners dismissed Grunden's firm, The Jonathan, in a hastily called meeting last week after learning that the company had billed the county for time spent talking to reporters about Commissioner Harold Bost's criticisms of the company.

"My blood pressure went through the roof," Commissioner Harold Bost said Thursday after going over the June bill from The Jonathan and finding the county had been billed an hour and a half at $90 per hour for an interview with the Atlanta Journal/Constitution's Fayette Extra concerning Bost's criticism of the firm.

AJC reporter Wayne Snow said the conversation actually was much more brief than that, but Grunden said he had included several phone calls from reporters on local newspapers, including The Citizen, but did not break out each conversation. He added that some of the interviews focused not on Bost's criticism but on details of the county's insurance programs.

The bill in question also included 3.75 hours reviewing tapes of commission meetings during which Bost criticized The Jonathan, and talking with staff members about those comments.

Grunden said the meeting included discussion of the county's property and casualty insurance, and he had to listen to the tapes for that reason.

Commission chairman Robert Sprayberry called a special meeting when he learned of the billing. "We're not going to stand for that," he said. Commissioners voted unanimously to end the contract.

"We have enjoyed our business relationship with you and your firm for several years and believe that the county has generally benefitted from your services," says the dismissal letter approved by commissioners.

"However," it continues, "circumstances related to a recent invoice have raised serious questions in the minds of board members about the appropriateness of some items billed to the county and confidence in your judgment has, therefore, been impaired."

"I regret the action this board has felt it necessary to take but I understand the extreme political pressures under which they are operating and have operated for some time now," said Grunden in a news release Thursday. "We are proud of the work we have done for Fayette County, its employees and all the taxpayers."

Commissioner Bost has waged a six-month campaign to have Grunden dismissed, charging that The Jonathan's bills have run more than $50,000 a year and that Grunden has intimidated some insurance companies into not bidding on county business.

Grunden has denied those charges, saying his bills have averaged only $36,170 over the past four years, and the majority of commissioners have supported him, saying that he has saved the county thousands of dollars in premiums while helping develop insurance benefits that have been recognized with national awards..

Privately, commissioners last week said they still believe The Jonathan has done a good job for the county, but they felt the dismissal was warranted based on the one billing.

Commissioners said they will operate without a consultant for now, but eventually will have to put someone in charge of the county's insurance coverage.