Commissioner suit ends, county gets the bill
A recently concluded suit that pitted one Fayette County commissioner against two others over alleged free speech violations will end up costing close to $350,000, according to information from the county’s insurance carrier.
Commissioner Angela M. Zimmerlink filed the suit in February 2010, contending her constitutional rights were violated when then-majority commissioners Vincent Vicites and Vincent Zapotosky held secret meetings and decided on county business without her input, allegedly in retaliation for her opposing political views.
She also claimed the defendants, against the advice of legal counsel, used the editorial page of local news media to air their positions. Zimmerlink is a Republican, while Zapotosky and Vicites are Democrats.
The county paid a $10,000 deductible toward the the total $348,500 tab to its insurance carrier, the Pennsylvania Counties Risk Pool (PCoRP), an intergovernmental agency comprising 52 counties that functions like a small mutual insurance company.
The county’s deductible now stands at $25,000, having increased from $10,000 in 2010.
Following the initiation of Zimmerlink’s suit against the other commissioners, a provision was added to PCoRP’s bylaws stating that coverage does not apply to any claim brought by or on behalf of one elected official against another elected official.
“This exclusion is added as the coverage intent under public officials liability is not to cover claims brought by one elected official against another,” the PCoRP information states.
Commission Chairman Al Ambrosini, who was never a party to the litigation, said it was unfortunate that the lawsuit was filed in the first place.
“The courts made it pretty clear that it’s perfectly allowable and acceptable and legal for political parties to meet and discuss strategies,” said Ambrosini. “They agreed there was nothing here that was inappropriate.”
Ambrosini noted that insurance premiums for the county have gone up dramatically in the last few years. “Four years ago we were paying $350,000 a year in liability coverage. Now we’re paying $680,000 a year.”
“That’s because of these types of lawsuits,” Ambrosini added.
Zimmerlink pointed out that hers was not the only suit lodged against the county that resulted in expensive legal bills and that she alone was not responsible for the increase in premiums nor deductibles.
John Sallade, managing director of insurance programs for PCoRP, said, “This is a very claims-experience-driven business.”
He said PCoRP looks at both the frequency and severity of claims made against a county and that Fayette County has seen a series of costly suits in recent years.
“In comparison with other counties, Fayette County has had more frequent and severe liability suits,” Sallade said. “We have had years where the pool has lost money to Fayette County.”
According to Sallade, the cost of coverage will only come down when the frequency and severity of claims made against the county are stemmed.
Zimmerlink said she tried other avenues to overcome the lack of communication among commissioners in 2008 and 2009, before ultimately deciding to take the issue to court. She said she was very vocal and public with her belief that negotiations were being conducted behind closed doors followed by rubber-stamp ratifications at public meetings.
She alleged that Vicites and Zapotosky formulated decisions in a corner office without her and said that doing so not only excluded her, but also excluded the public.
“This is not about Angela Zimmerlink,” she said. “This is about having an open government for the people of Fayette County to see, hear and participate in.”
The atmosphere in the commissioners’ office in the courthouse was not always like that, Zimmerlink said. In her first term, she worked with Vicites and then-commissioner Joe Hardy without the problems she began to face in 2008, when the composition of the commission changed.
“I was chair in 2004, and the decisions and operations of government were open,” Zimmerlink said. “Then open government stopped in 2008.”
Zimmerlink noted that she paid her own legal fees throughout litigation of the suit, but she did not wish to disclose her out-of-pocket costs. “It was a difficult decision,” she said. “I did it for better county government, and to be able do my job.”
Zapotosky called Zimmerlink a politician’s politician, and said, “Clearly this was a complete waste of taxpayer money for a lawsuit that had no merit.”
Asked about whether the majority commissioners have a practice of leaving Zimmerlink out of discussions, Zapotosky said, “How do you communicate with someone who doesn’t want to communicate? She chooses to (exclude) herself.”
“This was politics at its worst and she owes the people of Fayette County an explanation,” added Zapotosky.