Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee says he did not commit an ethical breach in using an off-the-books attorney to negotiate a preliminary agreement to build a new Atlanta Braves stadium last year, because that attorney was simply helping him “evaluate the feasibility” of the $400 million deal.
That’s according to Lee’s response to an ethics complaint filed against him last month. The response was filed with the Cobb Commission Clerk’s office late Friday by Lee’s private attorney.
Cobb resident Tom Cheek filed the ethics complaint Aug. 27, after a story in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution detailed that Lee used private attorney Dan McRae to negotiate with the Braves before any of his fellow commissioners or County Attorney Deborah Dance were made aware of the negotiations. Only the county attorney’s office can hire an outside attorney to conduct public business.
The AJC story detailed that McRae was Braves’ attorney Greg Heller’s primary contact during initial stadium negotiations, and that the two met privately and passed versions of the preliminary agreement back and forth until it was ready to be voted on by the full county commission.
McRae’s firm, Seyfarth Shaw, was then written into the agreement as the county’s bond and project counsel before Dance removed the firm from the document. Those jobs would have paid the firm, in which McRae is a partner, more than $4 million.
“Although Mr. McRae advised Chairman Lee and exchanged concepts with the Braves during the feasibility assessment stage, he never had authority to bind Cobb County to any term, condition, or matter related to the potential deal,” Lee response says.
That is also true for the Thompson Hine law firm, which Dance hired to negotiate subsequent agreements with the Braves. That firm negotiated those deals, but didn’t have the authority to bind the county through those negotiations. Each subsequent agreement had to be ratified by the full county commission.
Both Dance and a Braves spokeswoman told the AJC last month that McRae was negotiating the agreement on behalf of the county.
Lee’s response says Cheek filed the complaint for political purposes. In that complaint, Cheek also alleges that Lee failed to respond to requests under Georgia’s Open Records Act, and that he improperly used his private email address to conduct county business.
The response also denies both of those allegations, although Lee acknowledges having emails from McRae in his private email account. He claims that they are not public because of attorney-client privilege, but says he will voluntarily turn them over to Cheek next week.
The response was written by David A. Cole, a private attorney retained by Lee. Cole works for Freeman Mathis & Gary law firm, which has Cobb Chamber of Commerce Chairman Ben Mathis as managing partner.
Cheek said he is not opposed to the Braves move and denies filing the complaint to damage Lee politically. He learned about Lee’s response from a Marietta Daily Journal reporter.
“If someone doesn’t do their job, or oversteps their bounds, the County suffers,” Cheek said. “I observed the happening surrounding the Braves.”
Lee did not respond to a voice mail message left on his cell phone.
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