(La Porte, IN) - La Porte County Attorney Shaw Friedman went on the attack today against La Porte County Auditor Tim Stabosz for withholding an entire $11,000.00 check to Friedman & Associates, Inc. for services approved by the Commissioners.
He also challenged both Stabosz and Commissioner Joe Haney to stop "playing the game that this is somehow about protecting taxpayers when both have approved millions in claims since January for attorneys, financial advisors, and engineering firms without withholding a single dime from anybody else."
“Their sanctimonious statements about protecting taxpayers ring hollow when they’ve only focused on my billings and both are clearly using taxpayer-funded public office to play political games and pursue personal vendettas," Friedman said. "Be transparent, gentlemen – why have you not done this to any other professional advisor and instead blindly rubber-stamped millions in claims from other attorneys, accountants and engineering firms?"
Friedman also challenged both newly elected officials to "find another governmental attorney anywhere in Indiana who gives a better return on the taxpayer buck than I do." For instance, Friedman said he secured a $1 million grant from the head of the Indiana Department of Commerce to allow rail connectivity and job creation at Kingsbury Industrial Park.
He also said a new voter registration van that Mr. Haney "touted" at a meeting and the Clerk's office will use was only made possible because of a $67,000 grant that Friedman wrote and secured from a non-profit foundation.
As for protecting ratepayers, Friedman claims that his firm has won millions in rate credits on utility bills for NIPSCO ratepayers since 2002 and worked to improve NIPSCO service by saving the NIPSCO maintenance hub on Indiana 2 on La Porte's west side.
“I take attacks on myself and my firm’s reputation very seriously and that’s why I filed a defamation case against Mr. Stabosz that is pending in LaPorte Circuit Court in front of Special Judge Steven Bowers,” he said.
Friedman also said all pleadings filed by his attorneys last Friday, including excerpts from our deposition of Mr. Stabosz, are available online on MyCase.IN.gov.
“I urge members of the tax-paying public to judge for themselves who is really looking out for taxpayers and who is using public office to settle personal and political scores,” he said.
