Rochester City Council is expected to move ahead with the appointment of T. Andrew Brown as the city’s corporation counsel tonight after an analysis (see below) by a local law firm confirmed that the appointment would not raise ethical questions or violate the City Charter.ย
The council meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in council chambers at City Hall, 30 Church Street.ย
Brown’s appointment was uncertain due to his unusual decision to stay active in his own law firm, Brown &ย Hutchinson, while serving as City Hall’s top lawyer. Many in the legal community raised concerns about the potential for conflicts of interest, especially since Brown & Hutchinson frequently represents people who are suing the City of Rochester.ย
Council sought an outside opinion on the Brown situation from local firm Harris Beach. In a statement released moments ago, Council says that Brown’s appointment would not violate any ethical provision, statute, or the City Charter.ย
An earlier opinion had been solicited by Nixon Peabody, which arrived at the same conclusion. Council pursued the second opinion “in the interest of thoroughness and due diligence” the press release says.ย
This article appears in Jan 22-28, 2014.
This is a great example of meeting the letter of the law while clearly creating an image of impropriety. This stinks. Brown should remove himself from consideration if Warren doesn’t have the sense to withdraw the nomination. We’re just one month into this administration and there are already too many ethical issues coming to the fore. Even if they all meet the minimal legal requirements they really, really look bad.
This is ridiculous as anyone knows that someone can’t simultaneously defend and be against the City of Rochester. It just looks like a bunch of lawyers helping each other out while us taxpayers continue to pay. How much did we shell out to two different law firms for the same answer?