One can\u2019t help but wonder who scripted the charade that took place at last week\u2019s City Council meeting (Aug. 28, 2014, item R-3, if you want to watch the video) regarding Larry McCallum, the Town\u2019s longtime prosecutor. Maybe they need to find something else to do as script writing isn\u2019t their thing.<\/p>\n
Reporting, obviously, isn\u2019t either as the paragraph in the town newsletter on this topic implied that no one knew Mr. McCallum worked for the Town, he had no supervision nor did anyone approve his fee billing.\u00a0 As usual, significant details were left out that readily explained what was going on.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the back story. The topic was brought up to City Council because a friend of the mayor complained about the handling of his\/her traffic ticket.\u00a0 It seems the resident expected favorable treatment and none was forthcoming. Had the mayor promised to \u201ctake care of it\u201d?\u00a0 Who knows?<\/p>\n
As a former prosecutor himself, the mayor had to be aware Addison had the services of a prosecutor.\u00a0 And, a sitting councilmember, recipient of several speeding tickets, also had to know a prosecutor existed.\u00a0 Yet both announced during the Council meeting they didn\u2019t know the Town had a prosecutor so Mr. McCallum was called in to explain himself.<\/p>\n
Just for grins and a bit of background, take a look at the brief video (prepared when Water Tower Theatre awarded him it\u2019s C.J. Webster Award for community service in 2004) (\u00a0<\/a>http:\/\/youtu.be\/uc4vYdkRJSU<\/a>). \u00a0Mr. McCallum has been the Town\u2019s prosecutor for 22 years! Prior to that appointment by a previous city council in 1992, he had served as the Town\u2019s city attorney for a number of years.<\/p>\n In the ensuing 20 minute discussion, Mr. McCallum explained he was in regular communication with the City Judge, City Manager, City Attorney and the Courts Administrator. He spends several days each month prosecuting cases, meeting with attorneys and defendants, reviewing new ordinances or state laws for enforcement issues and conducting jury trials. His hourly rate \u2013 $100\/per hour \u2013 hasn\u2019t changed since 1992! Addison\u2019s longtime court administrator reviews his hourly billing to verify his activities and submits it to the Finance Department for payment.<\/p>\n So where\u2019s the problem? There appear to be two: (1) Mr. McCallum\u2019s name does not appear on an organization chart; and (2) a few months ago, the Council was asked to hire a second prosecutor, Buck Johnson, to serve when Mr. McCallum wasn\u2019t available. Mr. Johnson reports to the City Attorney who reviews his billing. The Council, informally, agreed that when Mr. McCallum retires, a similar reporting structure would be put in place.<\/p>\n This exercise, which took 20 minutes of Council time, could easily have been handled with a few phone calls.\u00a0 But, it gave the mayor another opportunity to appear as if he were defending the public\u2019s interests and implying that the Town was being poorly managed. Shades of the Kanter forensic \u201caudit\u201d! Is it likely you\u2019ll find another attorney willing to work for $100 an hour?<\/p>\n These Council charades are why Truth in Addison is needed. Residents deserve \u201cthe rest of the story.\u201d<\/p>\n