Watching the recent Council meeting, during the call to the public, one speaker described events surrounding Town Attorney McGuire’s firing as a kangaroo court. I respectfully disagree. It was nothing short of a donkey court. Where was due process? Was McGuire given a fair chance of defending himself against these accusations? Imagine Mayor, Yates, and Tolis if the school district handled the Aister case in the same manner.

Among the litany of accusations (outlined by Yates - some, of which are ancient history) against our Town Attorney was a conversation between McGuire and the finance company backing Park Place.

It is vital to understand that this call was initiated by the finance company. They wanted to pay the development fees. According to McGuire, he directed that the finance company contact Town because he had already been scolded by Council for his involvement. So the finance company called and set an appointment with Town staff to pay the fee. When Mayor found out, she canceled the meeting. Wait, what? Why?

Then, in an Oscar-worthy moment, the feigned difficulty by Art Tolis prior to his vote was hysterical. Why did he eventually vote with Mayor? Henry Leger is the most experienced member of Council. Why would he not defer to Leger’s experience?

Tolis publicly chastised the School Board years ago when faced with a similar difficult personnel issue - not listening to the experience of C.T. Wright - a senior (by the way, Republican) board member. For me, this vote was hypocritical, partisan and cowardly. All council should own their decision and stop hiding behind the votes of others.

We don’t need a new attorney. What we need is new leadership on Council. The timing (Park Place litigation) and the immediacy (no due process) of McGuire’s firing is very suspicious and needs further investigation.