Mount P. council members at odds over Brock lawsuit

MOUNT PLEASANT — Councilman Gary Santos' suggestion that the town settle a suit brought by Planning Commission member Steve Brock alleging Council violations of the state Freedom of Information Act is "bizarre," Town Councilman Joe Bustos said.

"It may be prudent to settle this lawsuit and save the taxpayers a substantial amount of money," Santos said in a July 9 e-mail to Council members. "My comments were only put forward because of the cost of this litigation," Santos said Tuesday. He noted that the town is facing "tremendous budget cuts."

In his e-mail, Santos raised the issue of settling Brock's FOIA lawsuit in part because of the expense of providing copies of tapes of Council meetings and Council committee meeting to Brock's attorney, Thomas Tisdale. According to an internal memo dated July 8, the cost of providing copies of 250 meeting tapes was $10,750. However, Town Attorney Allen Young said Tuesday that the cost of providing the meeting tape copies will be a maximum of $5,000. "I'm reviewing that with the other side," he said.

Brock had no comment Tuesday. His suit asks a judge to rule that Council has violated the Act, and to issue an injunction to prevent future violations. It also asks that the town pay his attorney fees. The town's response on July 10 denies the allegations of FOIA violations and asks that Brock's suit be dismissed.

"I just thought it was really bizarre that one of our Council members would come out.... saying that we ought to settle this thing," Bustos said Tuesday. "I asked him (Santos) if he felt I had violated the FOIA. He chose to be quiet," Bustos said.

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