Zimmerlink seeks answers on legal expenses
Fayette County Housing Authority board member Angela M. Zimmerlink wants a special meeting to discuss $1,300 of taxpayer money the authority paid to a Pittsburgh law firm for work related to taking action against an unspecified board member for breach of duty. Zimmerlink said Wednesday that while she wouldn’t be surprised to find out that she’s the target of the extensive legal research performed by Cohen & Grigsby, she could only speculate at this point because the full board never authorized the move.
“I want to talk about (this) … I want to know the specifics. Who requested this? For what reason? What have they found out and what are they planning to do?” said Zimmerlink. “I can only surmise that it’s against me. All evidence points that way … The point is, I didn’t know anything about it.”
Zimmerlink, the board’s assistant treasurer, said that while reviewing housing authority expenses for Cohen & Grigsby – which have totaled $75,000 since late 2000 and have always concerned her – she came across the $1,300 billing to research the law concerning breach of “fiduciary duty” by a board member.
Basically, a “fiduciary” is someone who holds something in trust for another. In the case of housing authority board members, “fiduciary duty” would aptly describe the role of board members in serving the public agency’s interests.
Cohen & Grigsby, according to billing records provided by Zimmerlink, billed the authority $367.50 on Sept. 26 to “research breach of fiduciary duty action against a public board member of a public authority, taking into consideration the Whistleblower’s Statute.”
The firm submitted seven items for payment from Sept. 24 through Sept. 30, starting with $235.50 to review Zimmerlink’s correspondence to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development regarding the authority’s business dealings with two firms that employed relatives of Executive Director Thomas L. Harkless.
On Sept. 27, Cohen & Grigsby billed the authority $304.50 for researching a “breach of fiduciary duty action against (a) board member of the FCHA,” and for a conference someone had with firm attorney Michael Syme. On Sept. 30, Cohen & Grigsby billed the authority $241.50 to “research breach of fiduciary duty action against (a) board member of the FCHA.”
Zimmerlink, who wrote a letter to HUD asking for an investigation of the authority’s business dealings concerning Harkless’ relatives, said that she has problems with Cohen & Grigsby doing this kind of legal work. She said the firm, which charges between $105 and $205 per hour, is more expensive than the local Davis & Davis law firm that serves as authority solicitor. She also said that Cohen & Grigsby was hired specifically to assist the authority with finding a private partner for housing development and for negotiating union contracts, jobs deemed beyond Davis and Davis’ area of expertise.
“Why is the executive director (Harkless) meeting with a law firm (Cohen & Grigsby) to discuss this?” asked Zimmerlink of the breach of duty matter. “I don’t know whether or not any other board member is aware of this. We’ve never discussed this.”
Board Chairman Kenneth L. Johnson said that he is aware of the work performed by Cohen & Grigsby. Johnson also said that he personally authorized Syme to look into the matter, after HUD Pittsburgh official James Cassidy mentioned to Syme and Harkless that the FCHA had a “rogue board member” who had overstepped her bounds.
Johnson said the reference was to Zimmerlink regarding a letter she had sent to HUD. But Johnson said he didn’t have a copy of that correspondence and wasn’t sure exactly what HUD found so troublesome in its contents.
“She sent a letter to HUD (saying) that there were certain areas that they should be looking at,” said Johnson. “HUD was saying that she was acting out of order, that she stepped over the border.”
Johnson said that he authorized Syme to perform legal research into the matter. “Our lawyer asked us – me and Tom (Harkless) – if we wanted him to look into this,” said Johnson. “I wanted to find out (the answer), for us and for future board members. It’s OK to be a maverick … but when you start trying to undermine the policies that we set, then that’s a problem.
“Once you’re on a board, you’re (acting as) one person.”
Johnson also said that the authority’s liability insurance coverage only pertains to board-approved actions and doesn’t extend to actions taken by a single board member. “When you act alone like that, you’re liable,” said Johnson. “The lawyer told me that if you act alone, you can be sued. And you’re not insured (by the authority).”
Johnson said he would try to contact the other board members and see if they can find a mutually agreeable time to schedule the special meeting that Zimmerlink wants. He also said that he anticipates receiving soon a letter from Cohen & Grigsby regarding its legal findings on the breach of duty by a board member matter.
Although the document is in draft form and he’s talked to the lawyer about it, Johnson said he wouldn’t reveal its basic content at this time, as it’s not yet official.
Johnson said that Zimmerlink’s original letter to HUD, asking for an investigation into the authority’s business dealings with Niche Networks and Chestnut Ridge Communications Inc., was apparently not the problem.
Zimmerlink said that after the authority submitted its official response to HUD on the matter, she sent a second correspondence to Cassidy outlining her concerns with the authority’s official response. Zimmerlink said that she e-mailed that correspondence to Cassidy and later became aware that he had forwarded it to several people, including Syme and Harkless.
“I told him (Cassidy) what I thought of the authority’s response,” said Zimmerlink, who added that she made no secret of her thoughts at that time. “As a matter of fact, what I said was (published) in the newspaper. I said that it was a ‘get your foot in the door’ (situation).”
Zimmerlink said that she took proper action by informing HUD of the suspect business dealings and by following through, and would do so again.
“Me carrying out my duty as a board member (by going to HUD) is not a breach of duty. I believe that not doing anything would be the breach of duty as a board member,” said Zimmerlink, who added, “For Ken (Johnson) to authorize this (legal work) is overstepping bounds.”
Neither Harkless nor Cassidy was in his office Wednesday. Harkless’ secretary said he wouldn’t be back at work until Friday morning.