Scranton's special counsel files notice to sue councilman for slander

[Algernon Moncrieff]

http://m.thetimes-tribune.com/news/scranton-s-special-counsel-files-notice-to-sue-councilman-for-slander-1.2220457

Abrahamsen was hired as special counsel in the sewer and parking deals by the mayor and former city solicitor Jason Shrive, under oral contracts for flat fees of $200,000 for each transaction, Shrive has previously said.

In raising the issue Thursday, Gaughan found fault with “no paper trail whatsoever” of what work would be done for the pair of $200,000 flat fees. He claimed this arrangement circumvented council’s check-and-balance role and amounted to “bad government.” He also said council should ask the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to weigh in on whether these hiring arrangements were ethical or legal.

The other city councilmen, President Joe Wechsler, Pat Rogan, Tim Perry and Wayne Evans, did not respond to, or comment on, Gaughan’s statements.

On Friday, Abrahamsen defended the legal fees as “very, very reasonable,” and said he would ask Mayor Bill Courtright to waive the city’s attorney-client privilege and release documentation of his work

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