Annapolis Capital Punishment

The story CP broke yesterday morning about Acting City Attorney Stephen P. Kling has reverberated in the media and at city hall. On my way to the city council emergency session today, Mayor Moyer snidely remarked about how gleeful or satisfied I must be about all the publicity and notoriety I am getting. Okay Ellen. Riiiigggggghhhht--if that's what you think....(geeze I got a mention in the middle of the newspaper's story). This is what she said in today's paper:

Ms. Moyer said the "unfortunate incident" was being blown out of proportion by Mr. Foer and aldermen interested in publicity.

The beleauguered mayor bitterly complained, "But no, everyone wants to run to the press," she said.

Unfortunate Incident Indeed! Shades of Lemony Snicket. Run to the press indeed! Uhh...Capital Punishment is the press. The document is public information--at least to everyone but Mr. Kling and you the mayor. Hey Ellen--wake up and smell the coffee! This is what reporters do and we do it because politicians like you don't always do what they are supposed to do!!! And you call yourself a supporter of representative government?

At the emergency meeting (and there is even some question as to whether it was legally constituted as such....) Alderman Cordle and Moyer sparred over whether emails were received or phone calls were returned. A most humbled and apologetic Mr. Kling, clothed in boat moccasins and a ski sweater (was he expecting a wet and cold reception?), told the mayor and council that he acted immediately to get re-certified by filing the necessary papers, and the mayor seems to have acted quickly and properly by communicating with the Attorney General's Office. However, what impact this might have on legal work Kling has already provided, has yet to be determined. Alderman David Cordle called the meeting, and he and the mayor bristled at each other a couple of times

This calls into question not only the competence of Mr. Kling of course, but also the lack of action on the part of the state, namely the Client Protection Fund, the mandatory state bar which acted to de-certify Kling over two years ago. How could his continuing to practice law have gone unnoticed at their end? You'd think this would be pretty easy to do. Although he did not file the appropriate papers, Kling has been paying into that fund as required annually, according to City Public Information Officer Rhonda Warldaw.

Just as accountants crunch numbers, lawyers deal with papers. They read, write and file briefs, motions, opinions, notices, appeals, summons etc. It is more than a bit odd that a lawyer would fail to file a required document that all lawyers have to file or risk de-certification! He failed the "file-the-one-paper-you-have-to-file" test and it makes me wonder what other papers he might have misplaced, misfiled or forgot to file.

It gets worse. A lot worse. An email of legalese sent to aldermen and the mayor by Annapolis lawyer C. Christopher Ledoux, strongly argues that neither city nor state law even give the mayor and council authority to appoint an acting city attorney! Now, who do we turn to for an "official" opinion? And who is our "acting" city attorney now?

Alderman Ross Arnett may have said it best of all, "It's one more time we give the appearance we don't know what we are doing," said Mr. Arnett, arguing the incident further illustrates the need for a professional city manager in Annapolis.

See the newspaper story today at: Kling
The Sun weighed in on Friday morning saying "Kling filed the paperwork Wednesday after a blogger brought the issue to light in an online posting and in an e-mail sent to council members and to Moyer's office."
The AP picked it up and the story has now been covered by many other media.

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