The Westfield City Council unanimously approved a resolution during its April 11 meeting allowing the council to conduct an investigation regarding the litigation between Mayor Andy Cook and Clerk-Treasurer Cindy Gossard. The resolution states the council expects access to records pertaining to the investigation.
Council President Mike Johns said much of the council’s concern is about the fees accrued by both parties.
“There is litigation between two arms of our city, our administration and our clerk-treasurer’s office, and we are concerned with the costs that have accrued because of that,” Johns said. “My plan is to ask our oversight committee of the council to look into that to put together a list of how many dollars have been spent to date on that so we can disclose that to the public.”
Johns said he hopes the oversight committee will learn of ways to avoid a similar occurrence in the future.
Attorney Manny Herceg, representing the city, attended the meeting and said he was concerned about the request and stated that the attorneys would not be able to divulge information specific to attorney-client privilege. But Johns said the council wants to keep the investigation strictly to the financial aspect of the case.
Herceg said a joint motion was filed April 9 and that the parties were working toward a resolution.
For more, visit westfield.in.gov.
