CITY COUNCIL Warren panel OKs attorney pay

A councilwoman changed her mind after assurances from the administration.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- About four months after a Cleveland law firm represented the city in a disciplinary hearing involving the police chief, city council has agreed to pay the bill.
Council members voted at their regular meeting Wednesday to remove from the table the ordinance to pay Atty. Dwight Davis of Cleveland $7,425 for the work. Davis represented the city in a December disciplinary hearing before the civil service commission.
The ordinance was introduced last December and tabled in February. Council members had rejected previous attempts to lift the legislation from the table to enable it to come to a vote.
The hearing dealt with administrative charges against Chief John Mandopoulos for his actions last May outside of a now-closed U.S. Route 422 nightclub and comments to a television reporter.
Mayor's assurances
Councilwoman Susan E. Hartman, D-7th, was one of those who previously opposed the legislation's being removed from the table. She changed her mind after assurances from Mayor Michael J. O'Brien and Doug Franklin, safety-service director, to keep council informed.
The hearing occurred under the previous city administration.
"The new administration has promised council that we'll never be put in the dark on something like this again," Hartman said.
She believes the hearing could have been handled by the city's personnel department rather than hiring an outside law firm.
Councilman Robert Holmes III, D-4th, cast the lone dissenting vote against paying the bill.
"I don't think that any attorney is worth $10,000 for two days' work," he said, referring to payment already made to the Cleveland lawyer.
In other business, O'Brien said that members of the police department had served this week at the St. Vincent DePaul Society on Niles Road. The officers will continue to volunteer monthly at the society, he said.
denise_dick@vindy.com