Lansing City Councilperson Kathie Dunbar plans to vote against a proposal for the council to hire an outside attorney to look into a murky separation agreement for ex city attorney Janene McIntryre. We find out why and hear her thoughts about a proposed medical marijuana moratorium and ordinance for Lansing.
The Lansing City Council could vote tonight on a proposal to hire outside legal assistance to investigate the payout to a former city attorney.
In February, Janene McIntyre signed a separation agreement with the administration of Mayor Virg Bernero that authorized a payment of about $160,000.
None of the parties involved in the agreement has revealed what led to McIntyre’s departure.
Kathie Dunbar, an at-large member of the Lansing City Council, says she would vote against such a proposal and predicted it would fail.
“There’s a confidentiality clause in the agreement that prohibits either side from disclosing any details of the separation.”
Dunbar says that it’s not unique for the city to settle cases behind closed doors.
“We negotiate worker’s compensation and settlement cases all the time as a council,” says Dunbar. “When we come out on the floor we disclose the amount – we don’t disclose the name or reason for the settlement.”
She says the mayor handled McIntyre’s case because the council is not granted rights over employee separation issues.
“We don’t know what the issue is. We do know that [those] who were involved in the negotiations decided that the possibility of litigation could end up costing the city a lot more,” says Dunbar.
She says she doesn’t believe that the settlement necessarily means anything unethical happened.
“It just suggests that there could have been litigation,” says Dunbar. “We mitigate that risk [of losing money in the litigation process] by offering a settlement.”
Dunbar declined to speculate about what happened involving McIntyre.
She went on to say that Brown-Clarke is rumored to be interested in running for mayor next year and that pursuing an investigation could help her.
She made her comments in an interview on WKAR radio’s Current State.
Article by Ethan Merrill, Current State intern
