Special Meeting Puts Rift Between Lake View Town Council Members on Display

Thursday, July 19, the Lake View Town Council finally met to replace the unceremoniously terminated Jon Terry as Town Attorney. This meeting came on the heels of multiple failed attempts to hold a special meeting to replace the attorney and an ultimatum from Mayor Calhoun that, on the advice of the League of Municipalities, no meetings would be held to conduct town business until a new attorney was hired to advise the Council. Given the multiple lawsuits facing the town, glaring flaws in the wording of multiple ordinances, and the hard push by certain members of the Council to continue more of the same, this was an unquestionably wise decision. However, Toni Braddy has emerged as the mouthpiece for Nancy Ray’s agenda and has positioned herself as the council member most combative towards the mayor. She has led the charge to derail all meetings called by the Mayor, has squarely placed blame on the Mayor for calling the meetings without her express approval, and caused a scene at this meeting with a childish tantrum related to the presence of Mayor Calhoun’s personal attorney on the dais. Needless to say, it was an exercise in dysfunction, but the end result was a well-played win for the Mayor and Lake View.

The meeting opened with Toni Braddy walking out prior to roll call. She complained that Mayor Calhoun’s personal attorney who he had hired to protect himself from exposure, should not be seated beside him on the dais. Calhoun stated his attorney would not advise the Council, only Calhoun himself. Braddy left the Council chambers with Nancy Ray in tow to “check the legality” of the lawyer’s presence on the dais. There are no statutes in the Alabama Code regarding where attendees to a council meeting can sit and Toni likely is well aware of this. It was simply another childish display of unwillingness to cooperate regarding the running of the town government. Vivian Bean spoke up and complained about the matter, asking the Mayor to comply with Braddy’s temper tantrum by asking his attorney to sit in the gallery. The Mayor complied as Braddy walked to the dais to retrieve her name plate, signalling that she would walk out, no doubt with Bean, Ray, and the quorum behind her, if Calhoun failed to give in on the matter. Calhoun complied and the meeting continued. If there was any doubt before where the immature, counterproductive, and traitorous behavior in the Council originated, those questions were answered.

The discussion of the three attorneys was lengthy. Here are the cliff notes on each:

Brandon Prince: Championed by the sewer crew, Prince is a young attorney with little to no experience practicing municipal law. He has done some municipal writing before and was the least expensive of the attorneys, however some discrepancies were found in the hourly rates in the different retainer options he gave the town. Most notably was the fact that he charged more per hour for a 30-hour retainer than he did for straight billing. Bean explained that the retainer included a waiver for all travel time and expenses, but that is a stretch to get an extra $25/hour for the drive from Birmingham to Lake View. He also spent the bulk of his career working for a firm with ties to Mike White.

Eric Toxey: Toxey was also presented by the sewer crew. He has a lengthy history as a small municipality attorney, having served as the attorney for Sylvan Springs for some time. He was by far the most expensive of the three. Toxey also has a reputation for being a very straight-laced, ethical attorney. There was a bit of humor regarding him, however, as both Vivian Bean and Toni Braddy made a big show of his attention to detail and how he always “dotted his i’s and crossed his t’s”, all while everyone in the room had his resume where he clearly addressed the town of “Lakeview” instead of “Lake View”. Hopefully he puts this in his GPS properly so the Town doesn’t pay $225/hour for him to drive to Northeast Alabama.

Michael Trucks: Trucks was not only the preferred attorney of the mayor, but was such an obviously good selection that at least two other attorneys declined to submit resumes as they felt that the town should not consider anyone else if he were available. Trucks has an exceptional reputation and famously left his post at the City of Fairfield due to ethical conflicts with the mayor. He has a reputation for being completely apolitical.

The attorney debate carried on for over an hour with Braddy, Bean, and Ray doing everything they could to push Prince or Toxey while attacking Trucks. Bean pointed out that she didn’t like Trucks because he supported using property seizures from the developers if necessary to keep the town hall on septic and because he has prior connections to Jon Terry and Woodstock Municipal Attorney Boozer Downs. This clearly shows where her allegiances lie as those would all be good points for someone interested in serving Lake View, but death blows to a pro-White agenda. In the end, it took four votes to confirm Eric Toxey as the new attorney in a 4-2 vote. This may be a big win that Bean, Ray, and Brady handed the town without knowing it. Reliable sources in the legal service community have reported to CBLV that, while he is not the attorney of record on either case, Mr. Toxey was actually an instrumental part of filing lawsuits against Mike White in Shelby County for both sewer-related issues and matters related to a Home Owners’ Association in a White-developed subdivision. He is also well known for being an extremely principled and ethical attorney who will be very unlikely to play the games that Ray and Braddy like to play. It wouldn’t be surprising to learn that Calhoun asked Toxey to approach Braddy about the position as he has proven to be far more savvy politically than previously thought.

The final agenda item was to appoint a Board of Adjustments. This was a vital and time-sensitive matter that is likely the only reason Calhoun was able to get a quorum for the meeting. The Board of Adjustments operates outside the power structure of the Town in a limited capacity to review and then grant or deny special exceptions to zoning regulations within the town limits. No member of any municipal committee or board, save one member from the Planning and Zoning Committee, can serve in this capacity. The board must also have two auxiliary members to ensure a quorum and to replace and member that leaves the board. Appointments were given to Jo Sharpe, David Lee, William Bean, Vivian Hunter, and Ben Hudson, with Daniel Griffin and Mary Christensen holding the auxiliary posts. Lee, Sharpe, Griffin, and Christensen will all serve three-year terms; Bean and Hunter will serve for two years; Hudson will be up for replacement or reappointment in one year. William Bean was chosen to serve as a temporary president until such time as the board can meet to determine its officers and parliamentary procedures.

Overall the meeting was a good thing for the town. The bad actors on the Council were on full display for those doubters who were unsure who was responsible for the ineffectiveness of the municipal government. Those same bad actors may well have made a critical error in the selection of the new Town Attorney. Lastly, the Board of Adjustments has been staffed for the first time in far too long, allowing variances to zoning ordinances to take place for reasonable requests from Lake View residents.

Please remember to follow the only, official Citizens for a Better Lake View Facebook page, which is updated frequently as new developments arise.

 

*Correction: It was originally reported that Mr. Toxey was appointed in a 4-3 vote. This has been corrected to reflect a vote of 4-2. Cook and Smith were the Nays.