Council members question hiring of new attorney

Friday, January 12, 2007

The question of whether hiring attorney Allan Yackey to represent the town of Cloverdale was raised again Tuesday.

At its regular monthly meeting, the council received a copy of a letter that council president Don Sublett had written to Yackey, expressing that he would represent the town council and had previously represented the council president in his "capacity as Executive of Cloverdale."

The letter continued stating the council waived any objection it might have to joint representation, something that has caused concern for two of the council members.

After reading the letter Tuesday, Judy Whitaker expressed concern regarding Yackey representing the town, saying she was uncomfortable that he also was Sublett's "personal attorney."

Yackey, however, said that was not the case.

"No," Yackey said. "I represent the council president. I do not represent any individual on the town council."

Yackey continued, saying he did not believe there was a conflict regarding representing the town.

"My position is, there is a conflict," Whitaker said. "That's my opinion."

Yackey responded, "everybody's entitled to their own opinion."

Board member John Davis said he agreed there was conflict of interest with Yackey representing the town, but the council voted to accept the waiver letter on behalf of Yackey by a 3-2 vote, with Davis and Whitaker both voting no.

The selection of Yackey had raised concern among the board at a Dec. 28 special meeting.

At that meeting, Whitaker said she believed it was a conflict of interest for Yackey to represent the town because he also represented Sublett.

However, council vice president Dennis Padgett pointed to a discussion Whitaker had with board members at their regular December meeting regarding the Ice Box, a local restaurant.

At the regular December meeting, Whitaker said she was concerned about the actions of Sublett, Padgett and board member Glen Vickroy after she was informed they had approached the owners of the restaurant after they had started creating a driveway for access to the restaurant off U.S. 231.

During the discussion, Whitaker said she was disappointed that the three board members would approach the owners of the Ice Box telling them they could not create the driveway without council approval, despite Ice box owners explaining to the three members that the driveway was an issue for the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT).

Board members, however, still believed there was no conflict of interest regarding Yackey representing the town.

The council voted in favor of Yackey as town attorney by a 3-2 vote, with Whitaker and Davis both voting no.

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