ERICJOHNSON
Parking Gridlock
Commissioners, administrator and attorney tee off over management agreement Administrator Fred Russell brought an amended TEE Center parking deck management agreement before the Finance Committee Monday. And though he maintained the new agreement achieved the results the commission wanted to see when they sent him back for more negotiations, including a reduction in the term and a change in profit sharing, commissioners seemed more interested in the details of attorney Jim Plunkett’s handling of the liens put on the property the parking deck is built on. Commissioners and Administrator Fred Russell have been at odds over the fact that the city does not own the land the parking deck is built on. Instead, the city owns the rights to the air above it, which Russell maintains saved the city $1.7 million. “My personal opinion is that this has been the biggest farce from the beginning,” said Commissioner Alvin Mason. “From the attempted bribe to the potentially donated land that wasn’t to air rights that we may or may not have to notes on an LLC…” Specifically, Mason and Commissioners J.R. Hatney and Bill Lockett seemed suspicious of
the fact that there were liens against the land, which is owned by 933 Broad Street LLC, a company with ties to Billy Morris. Plunkett, the city’s special counsel for the TEE Center and the parking deck, argued that the liens were discovered as part of the process and were not “some problem out there.” Mason made it clear that he didn’t know about them, to which Plunkett answered that the legal team had it under control. “I hear you saying that,” Mason said. “The only thing I’m going to say to that is this: maybe it’s the lawyer I’m uncomfortable with.” He implied Plunkett was working both ends
of the deal. “The fact that you are representing this city and in some ways it appears as though you’re representing the others as well — it appears to be some sort of conflict to me,” he said. “So maybe I’m a little uncomfortable with the lawyer.” At that point he backed off, saying that his comment didn’t require a response, though Russell commented anyway and the two began to bicker. Finance Committee Chairman Jerry Brigham stepped in and tried to move things along by asking Mason if he was finished with his line of questioning. “Yes, sir,” he replied, grinning straight ahead. “That’s why I said there are no comments necessary.” “But you can’t just take a swing at people and not give them the chance to respond,” Russell complained. “I’m not swinging at you,” Mason said. “Although, I very well…” Brigham admonished them both, which drew in Lockett, who asked Brigham to settle down. Once order was returned, Plunkett explained that if the land the parking deck is built on were to go into default, the bank would foreclose on
the real property, but the city’s interests would not be jeopardized. “[The bank] would not get the full right of the property,” he said. “We would still have all the air rights and all the same easement rights that we have now. They couldn’t take our deck. They couldn’t prohibit us from using the deck. They could not prevent people from parking up there.” Hatney questioned how long Plunkett had known about the liens, inferring that he was being evasive, though Plunkett insisted that he was simply doing his job. “There was a mechanism to have those liens released,” he said. “That’s how lawyers do business. We discover the issues with the property and we take care of those issues, ending up with the client having ownership of what they’re supposed to have.” Apparently the answer didn’t satisfy Lockett, however. “No disrespect to anyone, but Mr. Plunkett — if you were representing me in a real estate transaction and a situation such as this occurred… you’d be fired.” The agreement failed to make it out of committee.
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