Residency Not Only Issue

Email Reveals More About Suspended Official

— Email between City Attorney Vaughn-Michael Cordes and city employees and elected officials indicate there were issues other than where Cordes lived.

Aldermen suspended Cordes with pay in August 2012 while officials sought an Attorney General’s opinion on whether an elected city attorney should live in the city limits. Cordes said he split his time between a summer home in Benton County and his residence in Lowell, where he is registered to vote.

The opinion, received in December, did not resolve the issue.

Mayor Eldon Long said last week he and Cordes’ attorney, Tim Hutchinson, were working to find a solution to the situation, perhaps through a settlement. As of Monday, no settlement had been reached.

Email obtained under the state’s Freedom of Information Act indicate Cordes was rarely in his office at the City Administration Building and didn’t complete tasks on time, frustrating city employees. As an elected official, Cordes is not an employee of the city and has no supervisor.

“I knew there was some frustration between the city staff and Cordes.”

Eldon Long

Lowell mayor

“I knew there was some frustration between the city staff and Cordes,” said Long. “More than once I talked to Vaughn about managing his time better. We even discussed him getting some help with time management.”

“I like Vaughn and we got along, but, well ...” Long said Monday, not finishing the sentence.

The email indicate Cordes was usually behind in his work, and he had a variety of reasons for the delays.

One email, from Eric Seyfried, the city’s information systems director, reminded Cordes of an Internet policy Seyfried wanted reviewed.

“Just curious if you have had a chance to review the Internet Policy I gave you six weeks ago in the beginning of January,” Seyfried wrote on Feb. 11, 2011.

“Thanks for the six week reminder. It has been too long. If you will give me a copy while I am here this morning I will keep it with me today and make sure it is done by Monday. Sorry for the delay, lots of adjusting and fires to put (out),” Cordes replied.

Email was exchanged between city staff and Cordes regarding the Razorback Greenway trails easement. The greenway will stretch from Fayetteville to Bentonville.

Discussion on the easement document began during the summer of 2011, according to the email.

Charles Flink, president of the Alta/Greenway and greenway designers, sent a draft copy of the easement to Lowell on Aug. 3 for review and comment. He requested the comments be returned by Aug. 15. Flink was still asking for the review and comments on Aug. 26, according to an email to Kris Sullivan, Lowell’s planning and economic department coordinator and deputy city clerk.

“Check to see if your city attorney has finished the review of the Greenway easement document. We are trying to get a jump start on the acquisition process by preparing the easement documents for landowners in advance,” Flink wrote.

Sullivan apologized for the delay, then stated, “Our city attorney said this will be ready Monday. I will forward as soon as I get it.”

On Sept. 7, Sullivan wrote to Cordes, “I need this easement document today. I attended the Greenway meeting this morning wherein I learned that the City of Lowell is the only city that has not returned this document to the Greenway team. We are holding up the process.”

Cordes expressed concern with the easement and raised some issues in an email.

Flink replied on Sept. 7, “No other city attorney has raised any issue with the public law reference that you cite. The other two city attorneys (Springdale and Rogers) have reviewed and approved of our using the legal instrument.”

On Sept. 8, Sullivan sent Cordes an email asking if he sent the document to Flink.

“If not let me know and I will make the changes and forward it myself,” Sullivan wrote. There was no indication in the email as to how soon the matter was resolved.

Cordes continued his private legal practice after being elected to the full-time city job.

There is no state statute that prevents Cordes from having a private practice, said Don Zimmerman, executive director of the Arkansas Municipal League.

“That’s usually left up to the municipality. They can restrict whether a city attorney has a private practice, but there is no statutes against it,” Zimmerman said.

Long said the city does not have an ordinance restricting Cordes from having a private practice.

“We may want to review that in the future,” Long said.

Cordes told city employees in an email his office hours at the city would be noon to 4 p.m. Monday and Wednesday. Other email indicated Cordes was seldom in the office and often missed the two days a week he was scheduled to work because of his private practice.

A message left on Cordes’ answering machine Monday was not returned.

Hutchinson said Cordes’ job performance is not an issue.

“I represent Cordes on one issue, whether he is a resident of Lowell. His job performance is not something that has been discussed by the City Council, nor is it of concern as far as the residency issue is concerned,” Hutchinson said Monday.

Cordes was elected to a four-year term in 2010 and took office in 2011. He is continuing to draw his on $75,923 annual salary that includes benefits.

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