LAID BARE: Butler "EMPTY BUILDING" Email Exposes Butler's Ethical Conflicts--Lack of Independent Professional Judgment
Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 6:38 am
So, on February 6, 2015, less than three weeks into the public debate over closing the hospital, Law Director Butler was coordinating public messaging with the Clinic and LHA spin doctors to promote the Clinic's scheme. The public record below reflects that Butler has his mind made up and may have been the lead architect in the cornerstone false premise to sell the Clinic's deal:
EMPTY BUILDING
The problem for Mr. Butler is that he had professional ethical duties under the Ohio Supreme Court Rules of Professional Conduct to exercise "independent professional judgment" on behalf of members of City Council seeking his advice and counsel--but at the same time he was secretly driving the PR bus against those same clients' interests and stated goals.
Never mind that public records show that Butler was involved in concealing from his clients: (1) his role in 2013 in the formulation of the crooked "bid" process in violation of the Lakewood Charter; (2) his role in drafting the LOI in 2014; and (3) his role in concealing public records that showed, among other things, all assets of LHA were owned by the City while he told City Council and the public that the City did not own those assets.
The facts now coming to light demonstrate that Butler held personal beliefs and was actively involved in capacities other than Law Director that were antithetical to him leading the due diligence process on behalf of Council Council and advising individual councilmembers.
What makes these apparent violations of ethical norms so outrageous is the false premises upon which Butler claimed to be operating in his other secret roles besides acting a lawyer on behalf of his client:
He wrote: that the "Empty Building" fallacy was "the most compelling argument" for making changes.
Ironically, Butler made his secret personal attack on Senator Skindell when it was Senator Skindell at the time whose advised members of Council to seek independent legal council due to Butler's conflicts.
Well Mr. Butler--you promoted and executed a "deal" that has resulted in an Empty Building with use restrictions that we are now actually paying your buddy, Ed Fitzgerald, to take off the City's hands at taxpayer expense.
Public records (previously concealed by Butler) show that Lakewood Hospital had enough financial assets to operate until 2026 and beyond until we might have an EMPTY BUILDING...and that building and the land under it would NOT have been subject to restrictive covenants as to its use that impair its value to the taxpayers.
EMPTY BUILDING
The problem for Mr. Butler is that he had professional ethical duties under the Ohio Supreme Court Rules of Professional Conduct to exercise "independent professional judgment" on behalf of members of City Council seeking his advice and counsel--but at the same time he was secretly driving the PR bus against those same clients' interests and stated goals.
Never mind that public records show that Butler was involved in concealing from his clients: (1) his role in 2013 in the formulation of the crooked "bid" process in violation of the Lakewood Charter; (2) his role in drafting the LOI in 2014; and (3) his role in concealing public records that showed, among other things, all assets of LHA were owned by the City while he told City Council and the public that the City did not own those assets.
The facts now coming to light demonstrate that Butler held personal beliefs and was actively involved in capacities other than Law Director that were antithetical to him leading the due diligence process on behalf of Council Council and advising individual councilmembers.
What makes these apparent violations of ethical norms so outrageous is the false premises upon which Butler claimed to be operating in his other secret roles besides acting a lawyer on behalf of his client:
He wrote: that the "Empty Building" fallacy was "the most compelling argument" for making changes.
Ironically, Butler made his secret personal attack on Senator Skindell when it was Senator Skindell at the time whose advised members of Council to seek independent legal council due to Butler's conflicts.
Well Mr. Butler--you promoted and executed a "deal" that has resulted in an Empty Building with use restrictions that we are now actually paying your buddy, Ed Fitzgerald, to take off the City's hands at taxpayer expense.
Public records (previously concealed by Butler) show that Lakewood Hospital had enough financial assets to operate until 2026 and beyond until we might have an EMPTY BUILDING...and that building and the land under it would NOT have been subject to restrictive covenants as to its use that impair its value to the taxpayers.