Town approves to represent Ward in potential legal battle
-
Town attorney, Jay Coward, informed the board that he would be willing to take on Ward as a client and the board approved a motion 4-0 to cover the cost of paying Ward’s potential legal fees.
Highlands Town Manager Josh Ward will get an assist from the town board in a potential legal battle with commissioner Marc Hehn.
On Thursday night the board voted unanimously to pay for Ward’s legal representation via town attorney Jay Coward in an ongoing fight over whether the town can be compelled to produce red line contracts with Hotwire Communications.
Hehn asked to be recused from the discussion and vote regarding the lawsuit. His request was granted and he left the meeting prior to the matter being discussed.
“I am really bothered by this, because in Mr. Hehn’s filing he takes action against Mr. Ward personally,” Mayor Patrick Taylor said. “Mr. Ward works for this board, and I feel everyone would be better served if Mr. Hehn were to amend his filing to sue the Town of Highlands, and not Josh personally.”
In Hehn’s court filing he asserts that Ward kept documents from him and is refusing to produce documents he requested related to the town’s broadband network contract with Hotwire.
“Honestly, I have no idea where this is going and I feel like Mr. Hehn is harassing a town employee at this point,” commissioner Amy Patterson said. “The documents in question no longer exist, and even if they did, we voted as a board not to allow (Hehn) to review them. This matter should have stopped at that point.”
Red line documents are used in the negotiating of contracts, typically between the lawyers representing all parties involved. Coward noted that red line documents are designated as “transitory documents” under North Carolina law and thus are not required to be retained for any specific time period – a fact he confirmed with a representative from the North Carolina School of Government. He also pointed out that red line documents are not meant to be retained once a final contract is agreed upon by all parties.
“Throughout the process of negotiating with Hotwire, I had several red line drafts for my review,” Coward said. “Once the final contract was in place, I disposed of those drafts. If an attorney’s office had to keep every red line document they ever looked at, every attorney in the state would need a warehouse just for those files.”
Taylor pointed out that neither he, nor any members of the board, saw the red line documents during the negotiating process. The board was given the final draft of the contract with Hotwire, which they approved by majority vote with Hehn being the lone dissenter.
Prior to the board’s February meeting, Hehn formally requested that Ward personally pay his legal fees for costs incurred in Hehn’s pursuit of the red line documents, including consultations with his personal attorney. The board, and Taylor specifically, took umbrage with Hehn’s request.
“What bothers me, commissioner Hehn, is the idea that our town manager, who is a fine person… who works within the confines of what we are doing at the town, the idea that he would be sued personally over something like this is unacceptable to me,” Taylor said. “The other thing that bothers me, very much, is that you would want a personal, financial transaction between you and him. We are going down a slippery slope when we start allowing that kind of business here in Highlands. We have never done it and I’m not about to condone that type of behavior now as the mayor.”
On Thursday, the board gave consensus that Coward would be the proper person to represent Ward in any court proceedings that result from Hehn’s filing. Coward informed the board that he would be willing to take on Ward as a client and the board approved a motion 4-0 to cover the cost of paying Ward’s potential legal fees.
- By Ryan Hanchett