Allentown City Council poised to sue mayor over racism probe

Allentown City Council on Wednesday voted 6-1 to hire a lawyer to represent them in a proposed lawsuit against Mayor Matt Tuerk in an ongoing dispute over an investigation into alleged racism at city hall.

Santo Napoli, city council vice president, was the only member to vote against the hiring of Philadelphia law firm Brown McGarry Nimeroff.

The proposed lawsuit stems from a disagreement between City Council members and the administration over whether council’s hire of a private investigator to look into internal city hall issues was legitimate.

City Council last year declared its intent to pursue an independent investigation of those allegations after the Allentown NAACP published an open letter accusing Tuerk and other city leaders of ignoring and failing to address complaints. Tuerk has said his administration does not tolerate discrimination, and that staff have adequately responded to complaints.

In June, council voted 6-1 to hire FLEO Investigations, owned by former FBI agent Scott Curtis, to conduct an investigation into alleged discrimination and racism among city employees.

But several days after the City Council vote, Tuerk issued a memo declaring Curtis’ hire “void” because council did not follow city procurement procedures to employ him.

The memo said Curtis’ hire is invalid for several reasons, including that Curtis was initially disqualified because of a technical problem with his application, and that City Council did not issue a proper “request for proposals” but instead placed a “help wanted” ad in The Morning Call.

Curtis has begun work on the investigation even though the city has not paid any of his invoices, he told The Morning Call.

Council members argue they were not obligated to follow city procurement procedures, because the city charter allows council to conduct independent investigations, but does not explicitly outline how it should select an independent investigator.

“Unfortunately the administration has put us in a spot where this is our only recourse. I don’t want to go to court, no one here wants to go to court, but we’ve got to go to court,” council member Ce-Ce Gerlach said at an early July meeting.

Following Wednesday’s vote, Tuerk said the hire is “disappointing.”

“They are now going to spend taxpayer dollars to ensure they can spend taxpayer dollars improperly,” Tuerk said.

City Council at an earlier meeting authorized a $20,000 expenditure to hire legal representation on the matter.

According to a letter of engagement with Brown McGarry Nimeroff, the law firm will charge $350 an hour for services, which is a discounted rate. Associates and paralegals who assist will also charge $225 or $150 an hour, respectively. The firm will bill the city for services on a monthly basis.

Mary Kay Brown, an attorney with the firm, declined to comment Wednesday morning following the vote.

Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at Liweber@mcall.com .