ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A rift between Allentown’s top officials grew deeper Wednesday night as city council hired an attorney to potentially sue Mayor Matt Tuerk.
Six of seven council members voted to pass a resolution to engage Brown McGarry Nimeroff Attorneys. Councilman Santo Napoli was the lone vote against it.
Council last month allocated $20,000 for legal counsel “to pursue any and all equitable and legal remedies against the mayor” for what the resolution called “obstruction” of the body’s investigation of claims of workplace discrimination and racism within city government.
Mary Kay Brown will serve as the firm’s lead attorney on the potential lawsuit against Tuerk. She is set to earn $350 per hour for her work, a discount off her standard rate, she wrote to council members.
Associates who help Brown on the case will earn $225 an hour, while paralegals will make $150, under the terms of the engagement letter council approved Wednesday.
“It’s the definition of throwing good money after bad money."Mayor Matt Tuerk on potential litigation
Brown McGarry Nimeroff said it “reserve(s) the right” to change those rates with council’s approval.
And Allentown City Council agreed to pay further fees and costs “if any matter proceeds to court action or arbitration.”
'Throwing good money after bad'
The chasm between Tuerk and council started in October when members approved an investigation into allegations of racism and discrimination made by and against city employees.
Six months later, members allocated $300,000 for the investigation — and left the door open to come back for more money.
Council in early June hired former FBI special agent Scott Curtis to run that probe. Curtis led the FBI‘s investigation into former Mayor Ed Pawlowski's pay-to-play contracting practices.
Tuerk responded about two weeks later, slamming the process council used to hire Curtis, a 22-year federal investigator.
He sent a three-page memo to council detailing more than a dozen potential legal concerns with its three-member committee that selected Curtis after a public bidding window expired.
Tuerk declared the contract “defective” and “void” and told council he would not honor it.
The mayor later issued a statement calling the investigation a smear campaign against him.
Council within days of Tuerk’s statement allocated $20,000 to hire an attorney to pursue legal action against him.
Tuerk said Wednesday that he’s “disappointed” council hired an attorney to sue his administration for urging members to restart the hiring process and “do it the right way.”
Taxpayers could now be on the hook for tens of thousands in legal fees for council’s potential litigation against the mayor. And they’ll also foot the bill for Tuerk to defend his administration in court.
“It’s the definition of throwing good money after bad money,” he told LehighValleyNews.com.
Political ambitions interfering?
Tuerk questioned some council members’ motives for hiring a lawyer Wednesday. Two seem to be considering challeging Tuerk when he runs for re-election next year.
The mayor has yet to officially announce his campaign, but he told LehighValleyNews.com in February “there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind” that he wants a second term.
Tuerk easily beat Republican Tim Ramos in November 2021 after topping incumbent Mayor Ray O’Connell and council members Gerlach and Julio Guridy in the Democratic primary that year.
Councilman Ed Zucal — who's spearheaded the push for the investigation — has talked about a potential campaign with residents but refused to answer questions from LehighValleyNews.com about a mayoral run.
And City Council President Cynthia Mota in May told Univision host Jorge Ramos that she would “love” to be Allentown's mayor one day.
“Oh yeah, of course,” Tuerk said when asked if political aspirations are feeding into the growing rift between him and council.
Tuerk also criticized council’s productivity. Most bills that members discuss are proposed by the administration “unless it’s like some weird thing about nepotism (or) trying to sue the mayor,” he said.
“They’re supposed to legislate for the welfare of the residents of the city of Allentown, to improve wellbeing. And just like Congress nationally, they’ve spent more time fighting with each other, fighting with the executive, instead of actually legislating for the good of the people.”Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk on city council
“We’re doing the work; they don’t do much work, with the exception of this kind of stuff,” Tuerk said Wednesday.
“They’re supposed to legislate for the welfare of the residents of the city of Allentown, to improve wellbeing.
“And just like Congress nationally, they’ve spent more time fighting with each other, fighting with the executive, instead of actually legislating for the good of the people.”
Napoli lamented his colleagues’ decision to hire an attorney while tabling a measure the administration pushed hard for without any discussion.
“I’m really disappointed,” he said. “We find $20,000 to sue the mayor on a process that we bungled, yet we can’t even hear a discussion about how we can treat our employees better, serve our residents better.”
