Barrington Hills board again refuses to pay attorney

For perhaps the last time, the Barrington Hills board on Monday voted against paying the village attorney, which the board has refused to do for eight months now because of a dispute with Village President Martin McLaughlin.

Last August, McLaughlin appointed the law firm of Bond Dickson and Associates to serve as temporary village attorney after he asked its predecessor, the law offices of Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella, to resign.

McLaughlin cited the Illinois attorney general office's finding that the village violated the Open Meetings Act in April 2013 under the firm's watch as one reason he asked for the resignation.

Ever since Bond Dickson started working for the board, Trustees Karen Selman, Patty Meroni, Joseph Messer and Michael Harrington have voted against paying the legal bill, which has grown to just over $66,000.

At the March meeting, Harrington read a document he wrote titled "10 Reasons Why I Vote to Not Pay Bond Dickson as Village Attorney" into the record. "I do not approve of this President's appointment of Bond Dickson as special counsel because it was done unilaterally, without RFP (Request For Proposal), without public notice, without bid, without a formal interview process, without the involvement of this board, and outside the purview of the public," reason no. 5 read. "No reputable business or organization would make such a critical decision in such a haphazard manner."

Under village code, the village attorney is appointed by the president, by and with the approval of the board of trustees. There also is a clause that allows the village president to appoint special counsel without the board's approval to serve "for such purposes as the president may deem necessary or appropriate."

Of the four trustees who have opposed paying Bond Dickson, only Harrington will be on the board when the issue comes up at the May board meeting. Selman and Meroni lost their re-election bids, and Messer chose not to run.

At their final meeting together Monday night, the discussion on the topic, which has inspired impassioned debate in the past, lasted less than three minutes.

"It's already been discussed," Harrington said, explaining his decision to vote against paying Bond Dickson.

Both Patrick Bond and Mary Dickson have acted as village attorney since their firm was appointed.

"We just want to be paid for the work everyone acknowledges us doing," Mary Dickson said after Monday's meeting.

Incoming trustees Bryan Croll, Michelle Maison and Brian Cecola will be sworn in on May 11.

They each declined to comment on whether they would vote to pay Bond Dickson.