ECORSE: City sues former mayor for $90,000
From an article quoting Wright Penning & Beamer partner Dirk A. Beamer which appeared in The News Herald:
Saturday, October 31, 2009
By Jason Alley
DETROIT — The city of Ecorse has filed a lawsuit against a former mayor who is seeking re-election Tuesday, alleging that he owes the city more than $90,000 for a legal battle he lost in 2007.
A neighbor of former Mayor Larry Salisbury sued him years ago in both his official capacity as mayor and as an individual, claiming that Salisbury harassed him and denied him the city approval needed to sell his house.
A federal jury heard the case and sided with the neighbor, Joseph Door. The jury ordered the city to pay Door $11,000 and for Salisbury to individually pay him $66,000.
Nearly four months later, the federal court also ordered the city and Salisbury to jointly pay Door’s attorney fees and costs totaling nearly $30,000.
While mayor, Salisbury had the city put up a bond with taxpayer money to satisfy the judgment against him while he appealed the verdict, according to the latest lawsuit.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati upheld the jury’s decision Dec. 29, 2008, and ordered the city and Salisbury to pay Door the money he was owed.
Since that time, the latest lawsuit alleges, Salisbury has never reimbursed the city for the amount that was fronted to cover his part of the judgment.
“Salisbury owed a duty of loyalty and a duty of good faith to (the) city,” the lawsuit says. “It was Salisbury’s duty to promote and protect the financial interests of the city, and it was his duty not to exploit the financial interests of the city for his personal gain or benefit.”
Attorney Dirk Beamer, who filed the suit on behalf of the city, said he isn’t sure Salisbury was authorized to use “cash out of the city’s coffers” to pay for a judgment against him individually.
“We question the propriety of him in the first place allowing the bond to be placed on his behalf with city funds,” Beamer said. “The city has effectively been forced to cover what is his own personal liability. … The city, obviously, is in need of funds and should be reimbursed by Mr. Salisbury.”
While the case was filed days before the election, Beamer said the timing is coincidental at best.
“People can infer what they choose to … but it’s a straightforward fact that there is money advanced or paid and arguably should not have been,” he said.
Salisbury declined to comment on the allegations of the suit, but through a spokesman said he intends to file a grievance with the State Bar of Michigan against the city’s attorney for abuse of process by bringing the case against him.
The lawsuit was filed in Wayne County Circuit Court and has been assigned to Judge Jeanne Stempien.
Contact Staff Writer Jason Alley at jalley@heritage.com or at 1-734-246-0867.
Read the entire article and comments posted on The News Herald website.
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