Cecil County Commissioners Back Down, for now, on Broomell Bid to Fire Law Firm on Artesian Sale; Move Could Boost Legal Fees

August 23, 2011
By

Cecil County Commissioners backed down, after a battle royale at their Tuesday morning public worksession and a more than three-hour secret meeting, from a bid by Commissioner Diana Broomell (R-4) to demand the firing of the entire Miles & Stockbridge law firm, and not just an individual attorney, from representing the county in all aspects of the sale of county water and sewer plants to the private Artesian firm.

But it could be a short-lived truce in the battle. After several weeks of closed-door discussions, decisions and actions, the whole brouhaha is expected to finally be brought out into a public discussion at the commissioners’ next worksession.

At stake are the potentially huge legal bills that could be incurred by taxpayers to bring in another law firm unfamiliar with the complex Artesian case if the commissioners go along with Broomell’s demand. And such a step could also risk a costly legal push-back against the county from Artesian. Two Artesian executives witnessed the flareup among the Commissioners on Tuesday morning.

The county is facing a deadline to complete the sale of most of its water and sewer plants to Artesian by 12/31/11 and foot-dragging by the county could bring another warning of a breach of contract legal action against the county by Artesian. A letter earlier this month cited three potential breaches of the contract that were triggered by earlier moves by Broomell, a long-standing opponent of the sale to Artesian.

On Tuesday morning, Broomell claimed that at an 8/9/11 closed meeting of the commissioners, it was decided to fire the entire Baltimore law firm, and not just the lead attorney, Lawrence Haislip, who has represented the county for years on the complex Artesian matter. Haislip was also the lead attorney on defending the county against a lawsuit brought by political allies of Broomell, the Appleton Regional Community Alliance (ARCA), seeking to kill the Artesian sale.

It cost taxpayers over $203,000 in legal bills to defend the county against the ARCA lawsuit.
The state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, ruled against ARCA and for the county and held that the sale could proceed. The sale is now undergoing a separate regulatory review before the state Public Service Commission, which held a public hearing on the matter earlier this month. A decision by the PSC is expected soon.

Broomell tried, with the assistance of her former boss, Del. Michael Smigiel (R-36), to force a delay in the PSC hearing but the PSC refused to delay the proceeding. Broomell’s actions in seeking a delay, as well as her testimony before the PSC opposing the sale, were cited by Artesian in a breach of contract letter to the county as possible grounds for legal action against the county. The contract between the county and Artesian required that the county would support the transaction before any state regulatory panels.

On Tuesday morning, commissioners were presented with a draft letter to the Baltimore law firm, asserting that the commissioners had decided “to discharge Miles and Stockbridge” from any representation of the county in all matters relating to the Artesian sale.

After Haislip was informed of a decision to fire him personally at the earlier secret worksession, he submitted a six-page letter to the commissioners, citing multiple issues still outstanding regarding the complex Artesian case and inquiring how the county would want to proceed if he, personally, was no longer to be involved. Cecil Times filed a public information request to obtain a copy of the Haislip letter but that request was denied Tuesday on the grounds that it represented confidential legal counsel information not subject to disclosure under state law.

Broomell’s assertion that the commissioners had decided on 8/9/11 to fire the entire law firm—with its voluminous files and assisting attorneys’ knowledge of the case—was disputed by Commissioners Robert Hodge (R-5) and Tari Moore (R-2).

“The name of Miles and Stockbridge was never brought up… it was all about Larry,” Hodge said, adding that Broomell appeared to be attempting to re-write the facts of what actually occurred at the closed door meeting.

Moore (R-2) agreed with Hodge, saying that “the vote was on Mr. Haislip himself.”

Broomell sought to shift blame to the county’s “staff” and said they should have “let me know” that the law firm represented the county on many aspects of the Artesian matter. In fact, all county commissioners long ago received copies of the 2008 contract with Artesian that spelled out all the details and steps to be taken in the complex transaction and all areas in which legal counsel was involved, sources said.

As Broomell asserted she had been “conveniently” left out of the loop, Commissioner Moore shot a surprised look at Broomell, who then glared at her and said, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Moore and Hodge voted against firing Haislip. But Broomell and her usual voting bloc, Commissioners Michael Dunn (R-3) and James Mullin (R-1) went along with her in the 8/9/11 secret vote. Although the vote was conducted in a secret session, the commissioners agreed to state publicly after the 8/9/11 meeting that action to fire Haislip had been taken.

As the rhetorical war raged among fellow commissioners on Tuesday, Mullin sought to have the commissioners express a “consensus” rather than have a formal vote to send the letter firing the entire law firm. Eventually, he tabled action on the letter and said the commissioners would discuss it again in yet another closed door meeting on Tuesday, for which the commissioners cited the exception to the state open meetings law to allow secret discussions of legal matters.

After more than three hours of secret discussions on Tuesday, participants said it was decided to send a letter only saying that Haislip had been fired and not specifying that the law firm was discharged.

But Hodge said there would be an “interesting discussion” of the issues at the next public worksession of the Commissioners.

Mullin said some of the commissioners had another lawyer in mind who was not employed by the Miles and Stockbridge firm to take over representation of the county and they would have to consider a ‘scope of work’ on what the new attorney would be expected to do and how the work product produced by the former lawyers would be conveyed to the new law firm.

But if that convoluted process delays the sale to Artesian, it could give Artesian more ammunition for a breach of contract action against the county.

Such a delaying tactic was espoused at the January 2011 annual meeting of the Cecil Land Use Alliance (CLUA), an ARCA ally that has also strongly opposed the Artesian transaction.

Minutes of the CLUA meeting show members crowed about having two county commissioners—Broomell and Mullin—as founding members of CLUA and suggested that “there is the possibility of letting the agreement between the county and Artesian expire” and “this would require action by the new Board of County Commissioners to limit the expiration date.”

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10 Responses to Cecil County Commissioners Back Down, for now, on Broomell Bid to Fire Law Firm on Artesian Sale; Move Could Boost Legal Fees

  1. Holly M on August 23, 2011 at 10:54 pm

    Enlighten me please. I can’t for the life of me figure out how (in good faith)the current Commissioners can be forced into supporting a transaction they didn’t vote for and so strongly disagree with. How in the world could a good attorney let something like that slip by him and if the deal is such a good deal for Artesian as well as the county, why would Artesian’s attorneys feel the need to add that to the contract in the first place?

    I would like to know why the 3 commissioners feel this isn’t a good deal for the county. Is there a web forum that discuses this. I can’t make it to the county meetings and I don’t see much detail in the minutes.

    • Nancy Schwerzler on August 24, 2011 at 3:12 pm

      Holly, there are voluminous documents outlining the pro and anti positions on the state Public Service Commission website, with documents filed in the Artesian case. The Case number is #9163, and link to document file is here:

      http://webapp.psc.state.md.us/Intranet/Casenum/CaseAction_new.cfm?RequestTimeout=500?

      As far as the contract, from the many government/private sector contracts we’ve seen over the years, it is routine for the purchaser to include language requiring assistance from the seller before regulatory bodies. Since local government is a political process, most lawyers would understand the need to move a transaction forward based on a contract, not the vagaries of the last election.

  2. Natalie Ricci on August 24, 2011 at 9:32 am

    The citizens of this county need to STOP SITTING idley by while Broomell and her two sidekicks continue to COST the taxpayers even MORE money, all the while cloaking their actions with pretty lies about “needing more transparency” and “saving money”. These three have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the LAST thing they care about is the citizens of this County.

    Their agendas are clear and there for all to see if they would just look. I mean, really, the Owen Thorne [planning commission] appointment? In that case, why don’t we just create a new commission for determining growth in the County — we already have the members by another name — ARCA!!

    I am certain that every incoming administration has something about the past administration they don’t agree with, but we can’t contstantly re-write history to suit the current moment. If we do that we never move forward.

    Broomall doesn’t like the Artesian sale so she does everything in her power to stall/stop it. Broomell doesn’t like Charter Government so she proposes we investigate Code Home Rule for what, the 10th time now??? And what is the reasoning behind these actions? I haven’t heard a single plausible argument for ANY of these actions other than its something that Broomeall believes.

    Well, I believe a lot of things too, but my singular belief in them doesn’t make them TRUE or RIGHT for the citizens of Cecil County. This idiocy has got to stop or no one will want to do business with us. We are already becoming the laughing stock at the State level….if I were looking to locate a business I would come anywhere but here.

  3. Tom Kenny on August 24, 2011 at 3:01 pm

    As I read these exploits, I am tempted to call them the “Never-ending Story”, several questions come to mind.

    First of all, it appears that the “sunshine laws” are being violated. Who is watching these closed meetings to ensure that there are no violations on the part of any of the participants? Is it the County Administrator? the Commissioners? I would like to know who is accountable.

    My next question is where is the leadership of the President of the Board? I recall several incidents where he asserted his authority around issues being discussed or actions to be taken, but wait, those were only incidents involving the “minority voting bloc” of the board. Mr President, how about showing some leadership and halting some of these antics? You should be fair and impartial when you are acting in the interest of the citizens of Cecil County. To date, this has not been the case. Time to step up and take control of the board in a fair and legitimate fashion.

    Thirdly,why does Commisar Brommell think she can do whatever strikes her fancy? She wants to overturn Charter government? Does she realize that a majority of the citizens voted for it? Can we, in turn, challenge her election on some whim? Can she be voted on again, based upon her record to date? I think the outcome would be different.

    Lastly, I think it is clear that Commisar Brommel has acted outside the perview of her position in firing the attorney in the Artesian case. Therefore, she should be held personally liable for any legal action resulting from her flagrant misrepresentation of the facts in this case as well as her total disregard for the citizens of Cecil County, with the exception of the Thorne birds and Smipkins.

    Wake up Cecil County. The time to act is now.

  4. Joe Carabetta on August 25, 2011 at 3:31 am

    No matter what side you are on in this issue, what is important is what is best for the County and the rate payers of the water and sewer system. I would like to see an informational meeting for the public which lays out the pros and cons of the deal and states clearly what will be done with the proceeds of the sale.

    I have expressed at numerous Commissioner meetings that the funds should go towards rate reduction for the current rate-payers; after all, they were the ones that funded the purchase of the capital goods now being sold by the county to a private company. I would also like to know what provisions are in the contract to protect the users from poor service or other issues since we will no longer be able to use the threat of the ballot box for results.

    My conclusion of this whole issue is that if ALL the facts are laid on the table, that the citizens of this county can decide who is on their side.

    • Holly M on August 25, 2011 at 2:34 pm

      Hi Joe,
      I could be wrong, but I don’t believe there will be much money left over from the sale to do much with.

      I would also like to learn about the pros and cons as well. It seems like many of the people I talk to don’t even know about the sale.

      I’m working on setting up a massage board/forum to “hopefully” have some debates about this without the name calling, even though it’s a little to late in the game. A post loses all credibility when I see the name calling.

  5. Real GOP on August 25, 2011 at 9:14 am

    Commissioners Dunn and Mullin: Wake up and see the damage being caused by Commissioner Broomell. Her obsession with the Artesian sale reminds me of Lt. Commander Queeg, played by Humphrey Bogart in the film “The Caine Mutiny,” and his obsession with some missing strawberries. Queeg stated: “There are four ways of doing things: the right way, the wrong way, the Navy way, and my way.”

    The MD Court of Appeals has upheld the sale to Artesian. The PSC saw through the phony “We need a delay because we are without counsel” ploy advanced by Delegate Smigiel. I assume that Smigiel then advised firing the whole firm and recycling that line.

    You have already been warned by Artesian that you were in breach of contract. I don’t think they are bluffing. Please do the sensible thing. Vote to re-hire Haislip and carry out your responsibility to represent the citizens of Cecil County.

  6. Patrick Tuer on August 25, 2011 at 7:25 pm

    This has become such a disappointment for me. The antics of Broommell are childish and it makes our County Government look like an absolute joke. I would encourage Dunn and Mullin to become more independent of her before more damage is done to our county.

    I may no longer reside in Cecil County, but my family does and I care about it deeply. I also put my county before my party, which is why I have been praising Hodge and Moore. I would encourage Mullin and Dunn to align with them for the sake of Cecil County. We need independent thinkers, not puppets.

  7. Ed Burke on August 28, 2011 at 10:38 am

    Is it possible for citizens to intervene in the Broomell-led 3 Amigo madness regarding Artesian? If 1000 citizens each contribute $100.00 could we retain an attorney to block them?

    • Nancy Schwerzler on August 29, 2011 at 4:11 pm

      Interesting idea, Ed, but the question is where to intervene. At least in theory, citizens could sue the Board of Commissioners to compel them to proceed with the sale, but no doubt ARCA would bring in its lawyer to oppose that. That would be an interesting “alliance”– ARCA supporting the Commissioners in court. Another prospect is a citizen ‘intervention’ if the PSC approves the sale but ARCA goes to court against the PSC decision. Citizens might counter-sue ARCA. The possibilities for legal foot-dragging could be endless.

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