Mayor Bradley Clarifies $1.3M Legal Fees

Today Mayor Darrell Bradley vigorously defended reports that his Council paid out over one point three million dollars in legal fees between 2013 and 2014. In fact, he took great offence that we reported it in Monday’s newscast, saying that we should have gone to him for an explanation. The Mayor is referring to an item in the 2013-2014 Audit of the Council which specifically states that one million, three hundred and nine thousand, one hundred and forty three dollars was paid out in legal and professional fees. It’s right there in the Audit, but today Bradley explained that that’s not exactly correct.

Darrell Bradley, Belize City Mayor

“One point two million of that is the judgment that we paid Waste Control. It’s listed as legal fees because we paid through Young’s Law Firm. Young’s Law Firm paid it then to Fred Lumor who is Waste Control’s attorney. So none of that money was for actual attorney’s fees. I read the comment beucase in my anger I had contemplated to write a strong letter. But I said, no man, we have a society that is opened and as a politician, I have to say that it is an occupational hazard that sometimes I will be bashed. Sometimes I think that it is unfair, but many times the media does an excellent job and I have to commend channel five for always giving us a fair shake, but in that case I was a little bit offended because none of that money was used for legal fees. And what is more, absolutely none of that money was paid to Darrell Bradley as an attorney or Darrell Bradley law firm or any kind of untoward thing. If you had asked for the information, I could have immediately printed off the report like I did when I gave you the audit and I could have cleaned up any kind of misunderstanding or any kind of misinformation. Because to say that one point three million dollars was paid for legal fees is a downright lie. In relation to clearing up that, we could have cleared that up quite easily and the clearing up in that one point two million dollars was the judgment for Waste Control—fifty thousand dollars was for Waste Control’s attorney and the remaining figures that took it to one point three something million dollars was what we paid for a consultant or engineer who supervises our street infrastructure program and we also pay the professional fee for our audit report.”

Darrell Bradley

Mike Rudon

“I would like to defend your assertion that it is an absolute lie to say that one point three million was paid for legal fees. That is what your audit is saying. The audit says, legal fees and professional fees, one point three zero nine million dollars. So that is what we had to go on.”

Darrell Bradley

“The line items in the City Council are…we call it the chart of accounts…and that is something that is given to us by the Central Government so there is only a finite amount of line items. So that when it says legal and professional fees, when it says infrastructure, maintenance, projects, everything…those lines items are not things that the City Council develops. They are given to us by Central Government; it is part of an auditing format and it is used by all municipalities – all of us use the same format. So that when a payment is paid as was the settlement of Waste Control, which was one point two million dollars, it is paid through attorneys. When that money is paid, because it is paid through attorneys, it is going to be listed in that line items. There is no line item which says judgements; there is a line item which says legal and professional fees. None of that money was paid for legal fees, attorney’s fees or none of that money came to me. The only thing I collect from the City Council is my salary. If anything was contrary to what I would have said, the audit would have reflected it. These audits are done by internationally, recognized auditors.”