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City Hires New Counsel, Seeks More Time to Fight Paper"
By Dan O'BrienYOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The city has hired new counsel to prepare objections to a court's ruling it violated open records laws and owes attorney fees resulting from a lawsuit brought by The Business Journal.The new counsel, Christopher Sammarone, son of Water Commissioner Charles P. Sammarone, has asked Mahoning County Common Pleas to grant the city a second extension of 30 days to prepare objections to Magistrate Eugene Fehr's decision handed down in late December. The reason, Sammarone stated, is that he was absent from the proceedings and needs more time to study court transcripts.He filed his motion Jan. 27.The court granted an earlier motion the city filed Jan. 4 for an additional 30 days. The latest motion noted the city and its counsel did not receive the transcript until Jan. 26. and needs 30 more days to examine the documents. Sammarone cited "the size of the transcript and the voluminous number of exhibits recorded in the transcript."In December 2004, Fehr ruled the city violated public records laws by withholding documents the newspaper requested as part of a series of stories it was pursuing on the development of the Youngstown Convocation Center. The ruling held the city responsible for paying the newspaper's attorney fees, calculated at the time at $23,429.60. The award for attorney fees is the only penalty allowed under law for withholding public documents.Originally, the city hired attorney Craig Miller, practicing with the law firm of Ulmer & Berne LLP, Cleveland, to plead its case.Miller was Cleveland's law director under former Mayor Michael White.On Jan. 31, The Business Journal reported the city paid more than $30,000 to Ulmer & Berne to defend the public records lawsuit.Documents show the city was invoiced $30,051.10 from Ulmer & Berne for work the firm provided related to the lawsuit that The Business Journal filed in October 2003 that sought public records. The suit named the city of Youngstown, Mayor George McKelvey and former Law Director John A. McNally IV.Records also show the city's legal expenses were paid from $26.8 million in grant funds Congress appropriated for the development of the convocation center. In February 2003, City Council approved hiring Ulmer & Berne for "all necessary services related to the convocation center/community center project." The following month, council amended its action authorizing the city Board of Control to pay anticipated routine legal fees, "not to exceed $25,000 for said purpose." Funds for the legal fees were to be drawn down from a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development line-of-credit control system, which administers the funds Congress appropriated.An engagement letter drafted by Ulmer & Berne's Miller, approved in 2003, stipulated the attorney's standard hourly rate of $280 an hour would be discounted by 10% to $252 an hour. Contact Dan O'Brien at [email protected]"