Yet Untitled. Welby Thomas Cox, Jr.

“We must save and sacrifice, that is our fiduciary duty!” Whatever that word means most of the old cronies around the courthouse would be heard saying, and joking that the word really means fuckin’ the old lady!

      But they were fucking themselves, up the ass and out the nose. What they failed to understand was that each year ate away whatever savings through inflation and the failure to construct modern infrastructure left most of these little communities out of the competitive loop for new industry and business and with the loss as well, the influx of new taxpayers, the lifeblood of any community. But, in most small towns there is an inbred hostility to change. Most of those who had lived there for generations generally fell into one of five major categories: agricultural, professional (attorney, banker, and accountant) business, service or education. Public Education invariably employed the most folks and therefore carried the most weight politically. A school board in most counties was all balls, regardless of the length of the dress and everybody knew it.

      That sense of power and the powerlessness with which it left the next generation was a source of continued consternation for people like Thad Hamilton. Each year the best and the brightest marched off to Chicago, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Houston, New York or wherever, just to get away from the ‘end of the line’ and backward nature of these communities. “That’s the way it is!” sang the boss.

      With the help of competent professionals, Hamilton seemed to have found the route around the political process, and his little engineering firm could begin what they had been trained to do… provide the necessary infrastructure for the communities for a decent return on time and equity! Peabody, Peabody & Helm put the ball in motion.

      On a crystal clear morning in May, James W. Seeling, County Attorney for Lake County, Indiana noticed immediately the impressive letterhead of the giant Indianapolis law firm, a place he had hoped to work as a law clerk and the place he had secretly longed to have his name as one of the partners in the skyscraper fronting on Michigan Avenue. He ran his finger across the engraved letterhead…saw his name, and then glanced at the signature of Michael A. Pearlman. He saw Mr. Pearlman in his mind eye, his black hair slicked back with a wet gel, sport coat hanging on the hall tree. He was sporting professionally tailored wool slacks with suspenders over an immaculate starched blue shirt with a white collar and gold cuff links, Gucci loafers with a shine like a…well, bright! He glanced at his own scuffed, worn- heeled Thom McCann’s and thought it may be time to replace them with his Sunday best, which he literally wore only to church.

      Seeling read the letter and then reread it. He sat back in his chair, took a cigar from its box, took off the wrapper, placed the plastic tip between his teeth and lit the cigar. Just the ticket, he thought. This little bit of news will guarantee this year’s election and his fifth four-year term as County Attorney. Closer he thought to the magic twenty years and a pension for life before he reached the ripe old age of forty-five. Thank you Lord for Peabody, Peabody & Helm after all! Seeling switched on the intercom; “Get me the Board of Education”.

      Pearlman was smooth, not slick, the difference between education and professional experience as opposed to salesmanship. He had cut his teeth on corporate law, served his time in the trenches with the firm before becoming a partner. He was an expert in corporate finance and with Charles Lorch’s acumen on tax law the team was prepared for the hastily called executive session of the County Council, which had been requested by James Seeling.

      The presentation was made to open- mouthed members who clearly were in over their heads.

      “Simply put,” Seeling said, “Your client, who must remain anonymous until this proposal is agreed upon, is prepared and qualified to make all necessary applications to the state and federal authorities for the permits to build our sewage treatment plant and to secure the federal matching funds by virtue of an irrevocable Letter of Credit to guarantee the community obligation in the amount of $ 10 million on an estimated $ 50 million- dollar project. This firm, will be responsible for the selection of the engineers, bid the construction, let the contracts, oversee the construction, and after the plant is built, they will retain an operating company to manage the plant for 20 years. At the end of this time, they will legally turn the plant and the ownership over to the Lake County for $1 dollar and other valuable considerations”.

      Pearlman confirmed that Seeling had succulently reduced a rather complicated business proposal to one paragraph.

      “To which,” he added, “Please note the admonition that the proposal is binding for a period of ten days and that the members of the County Council and the staff are bound by a Non-Disclosure, Non-Circumvention Agreement that precludes any discussion of the offer outside this room!”

      When the floor was opened to questions, there was a very long pause. General shock filled the heads of the magistrates who were hearing this proposal for the first time. The prospect of a new $50 million dollar sewage treatment plant forever eliminating the stench, and at no cost up front to the community. The fact that the political spoils had just been taken off the table in one fell swoop wasn’t lost on any of them, money they were counting on for years to come, reelection elixir down the toilet if this proposal saw the light of day! They waited, they prayed, each glancing nervously at the other. Knowing what must be said, but not knowing how to say it, or having the guts to put the real issue on the table. They all knew that if they turned down this project proposal without legal justification they would be skewered by the press and soundly rejected by the community at the polls in the election in the fall. The legal issue seemed a reach in- as- much- as the County Attorney seemed to be the main cheerleader for the proposal, having his tacit approval.

      Hamilton had set the bear trap and this County Councils balls were the target. No big balls here, they all seemed to disappear, sucked up into the guts of those who for such a long time had thwarted progress through manipulation and greed.

      Councilman Davis finally took the initiative, asking the chair for the right to speak. “This is all well and good,” he said, “And while I don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, I am also reminded that another big horse bearing gifts turned into a fiasco for a community much like ours centuries ago.”

      He looked around at his cronies, now they seemed puffed up and their balls had fallen back from that place where they recede on gutless wonders.

      “In deference to our learned visitor making this generous offer to our community and out of deep respect to our own County Attorney who has admirably researched this proposal, I am non- the- less concerned that we may be legally at risk by not putting this project out for bid as prescribed by the law.”

      Brilliant, his fellow members of the council smiled. Just what the doctor ordered, time to figure out how to regain the upper hand and reclaim our rights to the political spoils…the right to name the engineers and the construction company. Councilman Agino gave Davis the thumb up, using the middle finger for emphasis… mopped his brow and thought smugly to himself, “Great, we don’t give a good fuck about this plant, lets save the goodies!”

      Pearlman stood, as though he were addressing the jury in the final salvo of a prosecutor asking for the death sentence for a corrupt system, a system mirrored throughout his state and the country. “I understand your concern and your obligation as elected officials performing your fiduciary responsibility on behalf of Lake County. We have thoroughly researched the law, Councilman, and in a very seldom-used practice at our firm, we have issued a Legal Opinion to our client which says that we have assumed the legal responsibility for this proposal. It clearly underlines the existing law and your responsibility. It is definitively within your pervue, under the statute, creating the Industrial Development Authority to approve this offer and issue the Revenue Bonds for the project. Your County Attorney has advised you as well as to the legal right of this Council to act. He has suggested as a final voice to the issue that he request an opinion of the Attorney General as to its legality, and I would concur with the recommendation of your County Attorney.”

      Pearlman made Seeling the local legal authority and hero. Making professional points not lost on Seeling or the county council.

      “Smooth son of a bitch!” thought Davis, remembering his aunt’s admonition to his sister, “Marry a Jew…or at least