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Former mayor’s lawyer goes after records
By BOB MACPHERSON
Article published on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 |
REDINGTON BEACH – Lynn Brauer, a lawyer for former Mayor Bob Fountaine, has asked the town to turn over all copies of written and electronic records that relate to accusations that prompted Fountaine to file a $1 million lawsuit against the town and Commissioners Leslie Peck-Epstein and Sam Maniotes.
Brauer said her firm will compensate the town for duplicating the records.
Fountaine’s lawsuit claims that he was defamed by Peck-Epstein and Maniotes at a Nov. 23 commission meeting where he was accused of a series of misdeeds in office including fraud; covering up pornography on an employee’s computer and the alleged sexual harassment by the town clerk on a subordinate employee; that he paid a former employee with town funds to silence him; and that he paid his own company $6,000 for services that were not rendered.
In addition to the $1 million, Fountaine wants a public apology from Peck-Epstein, Maniotes and the town.
Fountaine resigned after a contentious Nov. 22 commission meeting.
“I resign. I’m not putting up with that crap anymore,” Fountaine said at the time. “It’s a bunch of crap, all spin. She (Peck-Epstein) is always looking for some way to nail me. She watchdogs everybody. She never makes a positive contribution. Her only motivation is to get me.”
Peck-Epstein accused Fountaine of employing a “go it alone” style of dealing with town business, often disregarding the provisions of the town charter in the process. She said he made a verbal agreement with the sheriff to hire a traffic deputy without commission approval.
Fountaine maintained that the proposal for the deputy was approved in the town’s budget.
Peck-Epstein said her review of the town’s general ledger showed checks missing, checks written with no check number and the town clerk signing checks on behalf of the mayor.
“Mayor Fountaine has a very distinct signature and it comes to my attention that on recent checks his signature has changed dramatically,” she said.
Peck-Epstein also accused Fountaine of not informing the commission of a complaint by former Assistant Town Clerk Nancy Eigenhouse, who said she found pornographic material on her computer and that he compounded the situation by having the town’s computer service provider clear the hard drive of the material, which, according to Fountaine, was found to be unsolicited spam.
Peck-Epstein said that the commission and not just Fountaine should have made that determination.
Linda Wilson, who took over as mayor after Fountaine’s resignation, said at the time, “I could go on and on about all the good things he has done for the town. He is a smart man and has his heart in the right place. You have no idea how much time he has put in for the town and all the good he has accomplished. The town’s residents are the losers.”
Brauer cited the state’s Public Records Law to justify her request for an immediate turnover of the records.
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Article published on Wednesday, March 15, 2006
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