05192016 - News Article - Portage mayor defends search of county email

Portage mayor defends search of county email
05192016
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-legal-fees-st-0519-20160519-story.html

Portage Mayor James Snyder defended hiring a law firm to dig up emails and correspondence between Porter County Council members and commissioners preceding an statement they signed last month criticizing him.

The firm, Bingham Greenbaum Doll, will continue its work until "a real dialogue" happens between his administration and county officials, Snyder said, something he claims may already have begun.

But, one county official and one city leader said the move was a bad idea, adding city and county officials have been talking on a number of key issues.

"I would say I'm having dialogue (with city officials) and continue to have dialogue with officials in the City of Portage," said Porter County Councilman Jeremy Rivas, who represents Portage, pointing to meetings he's held with members of Snyder's administration. "It's difficult when the chief executive of the city want to create conflict and call it dialogue."

As reported in the May 17 Post-Tribune, the city so far has paid almost $1,600 to Bingham Greenbaum Doll, which Snyder said specializes in Open Door law issues, from the city's legal fees budget item. According to its website, Bingham Greenbaum and Doll, offices in Indianapolis, Jasper, Evansville and Vincennes in Indiana, and in Ohio and Kentucky, specializes in a wide range of topics in business and government including Open Door laws.

Snyder contacted the law firm to shed light on why the County Council and Commissioners signed the letter, he said.

Rivas also criticized Snyder for using city funds for the information search. The city recently raised garbage collection and sewer rates and voted in a wheel tax.

Snyder described the payments to the law firm as an appropriate use of city funds "because many times we do different things, but especially if it creates an open dialogue and a better dialogue and gets all of us to operate in a more open and transparent manner."

"We're not done" searching, Snyder said, pointing to a stack of documents on his office table he said were from the county. He declined to share the documents.

Snyder did not get much backing from Portage Councilman Mark Oprisko, D-at large, who said County Council President Dan Whitten already has promised to include Portage on a committee to assess county buildings to determine their best locations and uses.

"I think there is dialogue, and I think James Snyder sometimes is too aggressive and ruffles feathers," Oprisko said. "I think the dialogue is going to be there, so, to me, the (Freedom Of Information Act requests) is like a waste of taxpayer money."

Snyder described years of Porter County officials allegedly overlooking Portage, the largest municipality in the county.

"Portage is not going to be pushed into a corner anymore," Snyder said. "We're not going to be the last people that hear about things. We are a large portion of the county. We are a large portion of the electorate, and my constituents need to be heard from."

The revelation of Portage's use of the firm has already caused some conversation, Snyder said. The mayor said he already has had more conversations with two County Council members since word broke of his document search.

"It's already worked to some degree," he said. "It may not be all positive talk, but, here in Portage, we have learned here how to take negatives and turn them into positives."