Commissioner Jeff Bergosh is ready to take County Clerk Pam Childers to court, blaming her for not handling the issues she had brought up with the 401(a) retirement plan earlier with staff. He believes the only way to settle the matter is to go to court, because Childers has refused to join the board in asking for an Attorney General opinion.
“This memo comes out of nowhere Friday afternoon saying, ‘Hey, by the way,’ I’m paraphrasing, ‘We think there’s this alternative dispute resolution. We want an answer to what our attorney says within 30 days or we’re just going to stop paying.’ Almost like an ultimatum,” said Bergosh. “I just think it was something that never needed to happen.”
He later added, “It isn’t right the way they (clerk’s office) are trying to constructively terminate bonafide contracts the board entered into.”
“What happens going forward, of course, will be a board decision,” said Bergosh. “But, like you, I think that’s an interesting tell that suddenly now that we’ve had one of the nation’s preeminent law firms on board, one of the nation’s preeminent trial attorneys signed up; we’ve got two opinions that this is legal, including one from a 30-year government lawyer, well-respected throughout the state. Let’s just find out if it’s illegal. Let the board handle the contribution rate and let’s stay in our lanes. That’s my advice for the clerk.”
Tomorrow morning, I will have Troy Rafferty of the Levin Papantonio Rafferty law firm on the show to discuss why his volunteered to represent the Board of County Commissioners pro bono and how his legal team sees the case.
