09272004 - News Article - POLITICS NOTEBOOK - Fromm still in game - ROBERT CANTRELL

POLITICS NOTEBOOK
Fromm still in game
Post-Tribune (IN)
September 27, 2004
Nancy Fromm, the owner of Addiction and Family Care Inc., has been awarded a contract by the Lake County Department of Community Corrections to provide drug and alcohol addiction aftercare counseling for inmates in the Kimbrough Work Program.

The Lake County Commissioners approved the one-year deal at a recent meeting, following the advice of the Community Corrections Advisory Board.

Community Corrections Director Robert Hinojosa estimates the contract's worth at about $21,000, but a breakdown of the services slated under the deal shows Fromm's company could net thousands more depending on what programs she provides.

Fromm is a central figure in the U.S. attorney's case against former Schererville town Judge Deborah Riga, who is charged with extorting money from Fromm's company, which was doing business with the court.

09192004 - News Article - Political machine - EAST CHICAGO: City's patronage system crumbling amid rising taxes, bloated payroll - ROBERT CANTRELL

Political machine
EAST CHICAGO: City's patronage system crumbling amid rising taxes, bloated payroll
NWI Times
Times Statehouse Bureau Chief
Sep 19, 2004
nwitimes.com/news/local/political-machine/article_c675e247-d333-5888-8d0c-cf7f219f506c.html
EAST CHICAGO -- Even for a mayor skilled at weathering attacks for three decades, the forecast looks grim.

What some consider the last city political machine in America -- Robert Pastrick's stranglehold on East Chicago -- finally may grind itself to a halt.

U.S. Attorney Joseph Van Bokkelen has made a Friday ritual of doling out indictments that have Lake County politicos wondering who's wearing a wire.

Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter has charged city officials under laws normally reserved for the mafia, alleging Pastrick runs the city like the godfather of a corrupt enterprise.

Former Councilman George Pabey has used the city's rising Hispanic population to demand leadership change, and the Indiana Supreme Court granted him an unprecedented special election Oct. 26.

All that's everyday politics for the "King of Steeltown."

No problem.

This is a place where job titles include alley inspectors and bridge attendants, where serving time for public corruption does not disqualify one for heading a department, and where it's normal to have entire families on the payroll. There are 135 employees listed as labor or laborer and 51 as secretary.

What's different now is the shift in property taxes to homeowners from industry has made the past habit of employment-as-welfare unsustainable.

Back in the day, when the steel mills and BP refinery paid the tab, no one cared how much the city spent or who it hired to build a patronage army.

"This time it's different," said Dan Lowery, a University of Indiana Northwest professor involved in improving local government. "It pits him against his own citizens. You can't maintain that cost structure and dump the bill on the taxpayers. You can't have Cadillac services and not pay for them."

Lowery said Pastrick can't make the changes now, because he's facing another election, even though taxpayers are paying attention for the first time.

Whoever wins the election may inherit bankruptcy and certainly will face the same dilemma.

Imagine dumping hundreds of jobs, then asking for votes -- that's not the East Chicago way.

Instead, Pastrick approved a few new hires and a 4 percent pay bump across-the-board Tuesday before announcing his own bid for re-election the next day. Only Thursday did the city recognize that property-tax collection came in so far below expectations, it owes Lake County $3 million it already has spent.

Leaders defend system
Pastrick and his assistant, Tim Raykovich, acknowledged the city spends far more money than it should. The shift in the tax burden has made past employment practices unsustainable, they said.

Pastrick spoke passionately about improvement projects in the city that have been delayed in recognition of the tax crisis.

He said homeowners understand property-tax levels will never return to the artificially low levels of the past, where thousands paid little or nothing at all.

"We certainly need to make changes in East Chicago, and we will," Pastrick said. "I admit possibly we have had an excessive amount of people on the payroll, and we will do everything we can to rectify it.

"That being said, we have to understand the makeup of East Chicago as opposed to communities like Schererville. We have poverty and indigents and a lot of senior citizens, and they require a lot of services. And I'd like to sustain the kinds of service the people in the bedroom communities can afford."

Some departments, such as parks and sanitation, are in desperate need of cutting, Raykovich said. Garbage is collected twice a week with three workers per truck, while neighboring Hammond collects once a week at one-third of East Chicago's payroll cost.

The parks department maintains 16 parks, including a greenhouse. Measured out in total land space, each acre of park would nearly have its own worker and $30,171 to beautify it.

Pastrick defended the garbage pickups as necessary to stop rodents and disease.

He said many residents don't have cars and need free transportation to get to the doctor or stores that only exist outside the city. The parks transform the city's negative image, he said.

"We have to do everything we can to sustain the quality of life for people who can least afford it," Pastrick said. "I have to try in every possible way I can to maintain the viability of this city by keeping the people here."

Asked if that spending could drive out the same citizens with property taxes, Pastrick blamed the problem on the state for not phasing in a change to market-value assessments and said he has supported consolidation as a solution.

After 33 years of winning support with services, change is complex, Raykovich said. Though the city pays him to make those changes, the political reality and lack of other employment options make it difficult, he said.

"These people rely on the city for their livelihood," Raykovich said.

Plans to cut about 150 workers were shelved until after the special election.

In July, Raykovich said the city would reduce the number of take-home vehicles to 15 from 121. Instead, the city targeted 40 vehicles and returned only 20.

Political machine combusting
Attorney General Steve Carter, a Republican, said East Chicago's history of corruption warranted the first state use of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, Act.

The suit, filed Aug. 3, charges Pastrick and 26 other defendants with misspending public money by pouring concrete and trimming trees on private property in return for votes in the 1999 Democratic primary.

Carter identified $3.1 million in questionable spending but suggests the total could be more like $20 million.

Carter said the State Board of Accounts turned over East Chicago audits to his office for investigation. The financial mismanagement cited ranges from inappropriate use of casino tax money to a lack of internal controls over spending and payroll.

"When one individual has been in charge for 30 years, it's appropriate to go after the chief executive," Carter said. "Our intent is to address a systematic problem."

Pastrick dismissed Carter's suit as a political ploy timed to help Carter in an election year, and said he has served honestly.

Pastrick's paternalism rubs his critics the wrong way, as if he's bestowing gifts to the grateful rabble rather than serving the public with their own money.

He said he does not micromanage and does not run a political machine anymore.

"At one time, we truly had a political machine," Pastrick said.

"I myself helped to set that image in place because of the political influence. I've always felt a city as small as this one with the problems we had, had to have some clout. I performed in that capacity."

He often compares himself to Richard J. Daley, the father of the current Chicago mayor who ran the most famous recent city machine. Like Daley, nonstop investigations have never tied Pastrick personally to any illegal activity or bribery.

Leonor Silva, a Hammond resident who said she worked in the city controller's office in the 1990s, believes Pastrick always has been the ringleader. Silva said she quit in 1998 and filed an unsuccessful harassment suit.

Before the 1995 primary, she said she overheard Pastrick talking to department heads and insiders in the hall outside her office.

"He said, 'I don't care how you get the votes, just get them,' " Silva said.

This October, even Pastrick supporters expect the special election to be crawling with agents and investigators to ensure historic patterns of buying and stealing votes don't occur. Still, some residents don't expect a change.

City history forged "godfather"
Maurice Eisenstein, a Pastrick critic and political science professor at Purdue University Calumet, called East Chicago politics a cultural phenomenon drummed into residents throughout the years.

"You have a godfather figure that uses public money to help people the way the mafia would," he said. "The whole city works as a criminal enterprise, complete with a ring to kiss."

He said there's no other way to explain the loyalty people show Pastrick, because the city has suffered horribly outside of a few election-year bones.

The machine spent millions on capital projects that included political kickbacks, but little was left over for essential quality services that would attract economic development, he said.

For instance, the school system erected expensive buildings and then hired unqualified cronies to run it into the ground, he said. Test scores consistently at the bottom of the state show nothing happens inside the fine shells, he said.

"The streets aren't fixed, the marina is deteriorating, there are no new businesses, crime is up," Eisenstein said. "That's what's amazing -- all these people are being paid, and nobody seems to be working."

Colleen Aguirre, a Pastrick critic who recently moved out of East Chicago, said the East Europeans who came to work in the region's steel mills had no experience questioning authority. The Hispanics that now make up more than half the population also were afraid to rock the boat until recently, she said.

"East Chicago is like no other city -- it's truly not America," Aguirre said. "When people came to the region, their lives were run by their priest, their labor union rep and their precinct committeeman. They've been controlled for so long, they've grown up believing in this man."

Pastrick has perfected the political art of neutralizing opponents. Critics said he had Stephen Stiglich appointed Lake County sheriff after Stiglich nearly won the 1985 election, then gave him the Lake County Democratic Party chairman job after his near victory in the 1999 primary.

Pastrick also iced scant Republican opposition for years by placing their chairman, Robert Cantrell, in a job as one of several school athletic directors. After finally switching parties officially to become a Democrat, Cantrell now works as "inter-agency liaison" for North Township and has been accused of using the position to recruit votes from poor-relief clients.

System change faces challenges
A top city official acknowledged that abuses still run rampant in East Chicago.

He said high-salary jobs were awarded for purely political reasons, nepotism infects every department and program, and some workers don't show up for work while others have no supervisor.

The city has never passed civil service laws establishing competence levels or qualifications for positions. Officials could only provide draft copies of job duties, because they only now are being developed. A purchased punch-clock system also languishes.

Even for lesser jobs, patronage drives decisions, the official said. For instance, the city maintained control of the Dickey Street Bridge rather than ceding it to the county or building a higher one. Five vote-indebted operators, each making about $20,000 per year, take shifts raising the bridge for occasional ships on the Indiana Harbor Canal, he said.

Cutting the bridge, several unnecessary salaries and outsourcing garbage pickup instantly would save $1 million, by his estimates. It hasn't happened.

Dewey Pearman, who directed East Chicago's Chamber of Commerce in the late 1980s, said there was little incentive for reform, because industry until recently paid about 90 percent of the city's tax burden.

"The individual taxpayer did not voice much opinion, because he didn't have much skin in the game," Pearman said. "Now, cities must perform basic services, not employment services."

Pearman and others said they did not think challengers Lonnie Randolph, a former city judge, or Pabey, had indicated much interest in change, other than replacing the system's beneficiaries. Everyone wants to "sit near the dragon table and get some of the droppings," Aguirre said.

That could spell bad news for the region. A Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis study in March found government corruption depresses job growth even more than rising taxes.

Like Pastrick, Pabey said the payroll must be "cut from the top." If he wins, he vowed he would take a substantial cut in salary "down to the level of the governor or lower."

Regardless of the election outcome, many predict the city will find itself bankrupt and struggling to trim the patronage army.

"Pabey just wants his turn at the trough," Raykovich said.

By then, there may be nothing left but to sink in the barnyard muck.

09082004 - News Article - Courts ordered to continue sentencing - Judge denies request to halt decisions until high court case is heard

Courts ordered to continue sentencing 
Judge denies request to halt decisions until high court case is heard

Post-Tribune (IN)
September 8, 2004

http://infoweb.newsbank.com.proxy.portagelibrary.info/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=AWNB&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=1052B518B238068B&p_docnum=114&p_queryname=1

Despite the current debate over federal sentencing guidelines, upcoming sentences should go on as scheduled, according to an order by Chief Judge Robert Miller. 

Last month, U.S. Attorney Joseph Van Bokkelen filed a motion requesting that the Northern District of Indiana halt all sentences until the U.S. Supreme Court has made a decision on how the Blakely v. Washington case applies to federal sentencing guidelines. 

In the Blakely case, Supreme Court judges ruled the sentencing guidelines in place in the state of Washington, which mirror those at the federal level, are unconstitutional. 

The U.S. Supreme Court will examine the issue when it reconvenes in October. 

In his order, Miller wrote only that he had reviewed the written submissions by the community defender's office, the U.S. attorney and other parties and consulted with the other district judges. He offered no further explanation as to why he denied Van Bokkelen's request. 

Miller declined an interview for this story due to his court schedule. 

While defense attorneys have long questioned the constitutionality of the federal sentencing guidelines, most seemed to oppose the blanket moratorium on sentencing. 

Jerome Flynn, federal community defender in Hammond, filed an objection to Van Bokkelen's motion. 

In his objection, Flynn wrote the government was seeking a "one-size-fits-all remedy for every case currently pending sentencing in this district." 

He felt the courts should decide on a case-by-case basis whether a sentencing should be delayed because not all cases would be affected one way or the other by Blakely. 

Van Bokkelen agreed not all cases would be affected, but he felt a blanket moratorium would prevent the inevitable invalidation of sentences if the Supreme Court decides to restructure or abolish the guidelines. 

Van Bokkelen's office declined to comment. 

In his order, Miller wrote that his decision would not prejudice requests to halt sentences in individual cases. 

Flynn said he was "happy the court decided to proceed forward." And he thought Miller's decision was a good indication that the majority of district judges believe the cases should be handled individually. 

Although the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago ruled in July that Blakely did apply to federal cases, that court is still issuing sentences. 

Flynn said the district courts should follow the circuit court's lead. 

Although Miller's ruling prevents a blanket stay throughout the district, it does not prevent judges from halting all sentences in their own courtrooms. 

Federal Judge Theresa Springmann in Fort Wayne issued a blanket stay of all sentences in her court last month. 

But Flynn said he and his colleagues have been able to successfully show Blakely would not apply to some cases, and Springmann has gone ahead with those sentencings. 

Some high-profile Northwest Indiana residents are scheduled for sentencing this fall, including Kevin Pastrick for his role in the carpenters union real estate investment scheme. 

Flynn is hopeful the Supreme Court will "stay true to their logic" that applied in Blakely and abolish the guidelines. 

While many expect the Supreme Court to at least restructure the guidelines, it might be a lengthy discussion. The court was virtually split on the Blakely decision, which ended in a 5-4 vote. 

09062004 - News Article - Cantrell politicking blatant - Former GOP leader defends North Township office work, admits election involvement - ROBERT CANTRELL

Cantrell politicking blatant
Former GOP leader defends North Township office work, admits election involvement
NWI Times
Sep 6, 2004
nwitimes.com/news/local/cantrell-politicking-blatant/article_4ff05698-fed4-51ab-a63d-9d56d6381f3d.html
EAST CHICAGO -- Employee transfers among North Township trustee offices several months ago appeared to have carved out a new political power base for Robert Cantrell, a former local Republican Party leader. That is until business associate Nancy Fromm turned government witness last month in a federal case against former Schererville Judge Deborah Riga.

Also possibly chilling Cantrell's influence is the Indiana Supreme Court's Aug. 6 ruling to hold a new 2003 Democratic mayoral primary election in East Chicago because of "textbook chicanery," which involved absentee ballots Cantrell helped poor-relief clients fill out.

Cantrell, who has confirmed he has been paid a "finder's fee" for clients he referred to Fromm's counseling center, was named manager of the North Township trustee's Harbor office in East Chicago months ago.

Sources said the move, which bumped Harry Dean Johnson to the Hammond office of North Township Trustee Greg Cvitkovich, was orchestrated to give Cantrell "free rein" to influence poor-relief clients in East Chicago, and perhaps other elections. Johnson has been perceived as a potential whistle-blower involving election-related activities that go on during township trustee office hours, sources said.

For instance, Johnson testified last September before Special Judge Steven King in the voter fraud trial brought by Mayor Robert Pastrick challenger George Pabey. Johnson told the court he knew little about Cantrell's job performance, even though the two worked in the same office. He also testified overhearing Cantrell claim responsibility for Pastrick's primary victory -- by way of absentee ballots.

The trial also solicited the testimony of Martha Glover, who claimed Cantrell helped her fill out an absentee ballot in the township office, so she could be paid $100 to work at the polls in 2003. Such testimony led to King's ruling that the election was fraught with unacceptable shenanigans, even though he did not overthrow the election.

King's ruling, however, led to the Indiana Supreme Court's decision to hold another 2003 mayoral primary election. It will be held Oct. 26 with the original candidates on the ballot -- Pastrick, Pabey and former East Chicago Judge Lonnie Randolph.

Involvement goes deep
As part of his job, Cantrell has hired poor-relief clients to work at the polls as Republicans, he admitted in testimony before King.

A trial transcript quotes Cantrell as saying, "Poor people like to bounce around a precinct on Election Day" to make money, and that most of the people engaged in that process got paid $100 by the county.

"I paid them out of my pocket, too," Cantrell testified.

Weeks ago, Cantrell confirmed in an interview he has worked with registered voters at the office -- roughly 1,000 per year -- and helped them fill out absentee ballots, and that he sees nothing wrong with that.

The office also has relied on two township workers, Maria Watkins and Roxanne Bartoszek, to notarize 2003 candidacy papers for poor-relief recipients, including Woodrow "Pete" Rancifer and Dorothy Johnson. Cantrell said he helped them fill out both their forms.

Maria Valdez, a lead attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, provided legal assistance to Pabey's challenge of the 2003 election. She said Friday that she is aware of Cantrell's testimony about his election involvement and has put Lake County on notice of its responsibility to run a clean election.

"If some of these things are happening (again) under their watch, we will hold them responsible," Valdez said.

"They have to be vigilant, given the 1999 issues, the 2003 issues -- the lack of training in the past May election. We argued that they let this happen, so they must make sure they are recruiting the right people, that forms are processed the right way, and are done according to the letter of the law. If they let people like Cantrell do what they have done in the past, they will be held responsible."

Cantrell, who has not been accused by federal or state prosecutors of any wrongdoing involving the election, could not be reached over the course of two days for comment.

In an earlier interview, he called himself an emissary for Cvitkovich -- so much so that clients who have never met the trustee have mistaken Cantrell for the officeholder.

But the job isn't just about politics, Cantrell said.

"It's about helping the poor in every possible way," he said.

"I do a lot of PR here. I was born and raised in the Harbor ... I know how to get things done."

Sketchy details
Cantrell, who held an "office liaison" title before, was hired under one of 15 "field inspector" slots years ago, Cvitkovich said, as that was the only position vacant in the salary ordinance at the time.

Cvitkovich refused to allow The Times to review original documents of the salary ordinance -- or the pay individuals received, saying those were his records and the salary information was private.

Cvitkovich did release typed pieces papers that he said were copied from original documents detailing job descriptions and annual pay. The papers say Cantrell earned $36,889 in 2003, $29,618 in 2002 and $30,000 in 2001.

Trial testimony also indicated township employees raised questions about the hours Cantrell actually worked.

But Cantrell said that does not mean he's a ghost-payroller.

"I'm here every day," he said. "Anything I would do, I won't put in writing."

He said he patches up inter-office disputes and spruced up the Harbor office. He said he helped write a $2,500 Harris Foundation grant that led to a backpack giveaway program for kids.

"I don't put my name on it, I put his (Cvitkovich's) name on it," Cantrell said. "I'm a worker bee here."

A Times request for documents to demonstrate Cantrell's work product yielded few papers, however.

Cantrell said he doesn't produce paper. He assembles it, boxes it and destroys it, as part of an authorized Indiana Commission on Public Records destruction program. At least 87 boxes have been marked for destruction so far, from 2002 and back, Cantrell said.

09052004 - News Article - Fed probe puts counseling service in jeapordy - Nancy Fromm's Addiction and Family Care business may suffer as cases unfold - ROBERT CANTRELL

Fed probe puts counseling service in jeapordy
Nancy Fromm's Addiction and Family Care business may suffer as cases unfold
NWI Times
Sep 5, 2004
nwitimes.com/news/local/fed-probe-puts-counseling-service-in-jeapordy/article_ecd9e536-4f6b-50c3-8b4d-f3df2f654ec9.html
HAMMOND -- Her counseling service has helped so many, but there now is a question about whether Addiction and Family Care can help itself stay in business.

Nancy Fromm has used a lifetime of political acumen and social-guidance skills to win hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts from a variety of local government agencies to serve criminal defendants with substance-abuse problems.

She also has secured contracts to provide sensitivity training to government employees. Some have praised her counseling; others have complained it was all a pointless exercise in mood music and massages.

It could all be in jeopardy, as the U.S. attorney's office revealed last month Fromm allegedly made illegal payments to the family of former Schererville town judge Deborah Riga to keep that court's business. She now is cooperating with federal investigators.

Sources within local government said that revelation may cost her lucrative contracts, because she is viewed either as having committed ethical violations or because she betrayed Riga to save herself, and may betray others.

U.S. Attorney Joseph Van Bokkelen said last month after announcing Fromm's involvement in the case, "In this indictment, she's a victim."

Fromm declined comment on the future of her business and remains active as a Hammond precinct committeewoman working on behalf of a number of Democratic candidates running in the general election this November.

Highland lawyer J. Michael Katz, who represents Fromm, said he is sickened by rumors she now is considered political poison.

"She hasn't done anything wrong. She received a federal subpoena and responded truthfully and was forthcoming." Katz said.

"The fact that she may have to pay a price businesswise for doing what is the responsibility of every citizen, highlights a problem with the system. She has a legitimate business with a competent staff."

Fromm, a city Democratic precinct committeewoman has funneled $13,000 in donations the last six years to a variety of public officials and also helped their election campaigns in other ways. Those officials, in turn, have referred business to Addiction and Family Care, including hundreds of minor drug and alcohol offenders who go through local courts each year.

Fromm also has used Robert Cantrell as a paid consultant to bring in business for her. He is a former East Chicago Republican city chairman who was dumped by the GOP for his tendency to ally himself with Democratic politicians.

Both provided help to the unsuccessful re-election campaign of Riga, who pleaded not guilty to charges that she set up a driving school for traffic violators and a counseling service for teen offenders and then embezzled more than $30,000 in fees paid to attended the programs.

State law and judicial canons forbid judges to profit from their courts beyond their fixed salaries.

The charges include allegations she extorted money from Fromm, whose business was providing counseling for criminal defendants. The indictment alleges she was forced to pay Riga's father $2,000 under the guise of his being a consultant. Riga's father has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Merrillville lawyer Nick Thiros, who represents Riga, hinted in a recent court hearing he intends to attack Fromm's credibility.

One government source said last week he considered using an escape clause in his contract with Fromm after learning of the illegal payments. He said he was calmed by media reports that Fromm was not under investigation herself, but that he may switch future business to another less controversial counseling service.

Another source close to Addiction and Family Care said the negative publicity has stalled negotiations on a lucrative government contract to provide counseling to Hammond city employees.

Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. couldn't be reached this week for comment. Hammond City Council Member Dan Repay said Friday no requests on such a contract had been made to the council.

09012004 - News Article - Scion of politician sues over firing - John Cantrell alleges he is victim of political retribution, racial bias - ROBERT CANTRELL

Scion of politician sues over firing
John Cantrell alleges he is victim of political retribution, racial bias
NWI Times
Sep 1, 2004
nwitimes.com/news/local/scion-of-politician-sues-over-firing/article_1388c2cb-f4aa-5688-83a7-81babb9d4b30.html
EAST CHICAGO -- A son of East Chicago politician Robert Cantrell is suing the City Court over allegations he is a victim of political and racial retribution.

John Cantrell alleges City Judge Sonya A. Morris fired him Jan. 31 from his job as a public defender in the court because he supported her unsuccessful opponent in last year's Democratic municipal primary election, attorney Corinth Bishop II.

Neither Morris nor John Cantrell could be reached Tuesday for comment on the suit now pending in U.S. District Court in Hammond.

David S. Gladish, a Highland lawyer representing Cantrell, said Tuesday, "You can't fire someone for politics who is not in a policy-making position. She should know better, and we are calling her on it."

Former City Judge Edwardo Fontanez hired John Cantrell last year to represent low-income defendants who cannot afford to hire private defense lawyers.

Fontanez, who now works in the same law office as John Cantrell, didn't run for election last year.

John Cantrell alleges he openly supported Corinth Bishop for city judge in the 2003 primary against Morris, who won with 5,681 votes to Bishop's 3,042.

Gladish said Morris took office Jan. 1 this year and sent John Cantrell home on the first working day of the year in court with instructions to return the following week. He said she did the same thing twice more before firing him, without ever having performed an evaluation of his job performance.

Gladish said John Cantrell is a successful private attorney who conducted himself "within the highest standard of professionalism and integrity," so the firing has damaged Cantrell's reputation.

Gladish said the firing is reminiscent of former East Chicago City Judge Lonnie Randolph firing former City Court public defender Tula Kavadias in 2001. A federal court jury last month awarded Kavadias $4.5 million in damages for that job action.

John Cantrell's father, Robert, is a former East Chicago Republican chairman who the GOP removed in 2003 because the party said he is a political adviser to many leading Democratic figures here and throughout the county.

John Cantrell alleges his firing also was the product of racial discrimination because he is white and Morris is black.