Legal help hired to sort out Portage ordinance to remove mayor from board
Chicago Tribune
February 09, 2017
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-portage-utilities-snyder-st-0210-20170209-story.html
A day after the Portage City Council voted to remove Mayor James Snyder from the chairman's position on the Utility Services Board, the board on Wednesday hired Chicago-based law firm Faegre, Baker and Daniels to look into the matter.
Snyder later said he did not know how much the legal work will cost the board.
The action stems from Tuesday's City Council action, which not only removes Snyder from the Utilities Board, but also eliminates the $30,000 salary that comes with it. The move came after Snyder and City Council President Mark Oprisko debated a variety of topics, from Snyder's use of a board-leased SUV to comments made to local media.
The council was expected to vote Thursday night on a proposed ordinance to delete the $30,000 salary.
"I feel the ordinances are completely invalid," said Snyder, who handed out city letterhead with parts of a state statute prohibiting legislative bodies like city councils from eliminating or reducing elected officials' salaries in the same year those bodies pass such ordinances.
"It's very clear you can't punish a mayor by taking away his salary."
Last September, Snyder tried to get the board to use utility funds to pay $93,000 in legal fees to law firms representing Snyder in a federal investigation. The firms returned the checks, and the board has not returned to the issue since Snyder's indictment last November on public corruption charges.
The board is made of four mayoral appointments, including the mayor himself, and three council appointments, including Oprisko, who is the board's vice chair. Oprisko was the sole board member to vote against hiring the law firm.
Another council appointee, Mark Hasza, also approved hiring the law firm.
"I figured (Snyder) would do something like that because he needs the (chairman salary) to pay his bills," Oprisko said of Snyder's idea to hire an outside law firm. "I'll talk to the (city) council. We'll do what it takes to get (Snyder) off this board."
The on-record exchange between Oprisko and Snyder began when the mayor defended his use of a board-leased 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe, at a rate of $867 a month for five years. The agreement with Enterprise Fleet Management ultimately will save the board money in the long run, Snyder said.
Snyder dismissed criticism of his use of the vehicle as "commentary without fact and touted the importance of city leaders driving attractive, practical vehicles.
Oprisko described the lease as an "exorbitant" cost, and the exchange took off from there.
The men bounced across Snyder's indictment, the board's issue of $93,000 in checks for the federal investigation, the mayor's absence from Tuesday's city council meeting and Snyder's controversial trip to a mayor's conference and President Donald Trump's inauguration last month in Washington, D.C.
The board did complete some official business. City Engineer John Hannon, of Great Lakes Engineering, was awarded a raise of $15 an hour, raising his rate to $125 per hour for utility services work.
The new contract also gave raises to a project engineer, a senior designer and more staff.
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