No car allowance for undercover boss mayor Mark Mallory

Published - May 06 2011 03:16AM EST

Marc Hoover, Cincinnati Headlines Examiner

For now, Mark Mallory, Cincinnati's reality television mayor won't be receiving his $6,000 annual car allowance for his Lincoln Town Car. Many know the mayor as a reality TV celebrity who appeared on Undercover Boss.

Mallory filed a lawsuit against the city of Cincinnati to continue receiving a monthly $500 car allowance. But according to Judge Norbert Nadel, Mallory's car allowance is a violation of the Cincinnati charter, a document stating how the city is governed.

The issue began after COAST (Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes);an anti-tax watchdog group claimed the mayor's car allowance payments were illegal because the charter only allows Mallory's $121,000 annual salary.

Although Judge Nadel ruled against the mayor's car allowance, he didn't rule out Mallory's health insurance benefits; also available to all nine city council members; but none receive a car allowance. Chris Finney, the COAST attorney said that Mallory just took the car allowance without a city council vote and is willilng to spend thousands just to save $6,000.

Republican City Council member Wayne Lippert finds the mayor's lawsuit an insult. He said that the city will have to hire an outside attorney at taxpayer expense to defend itself against Mallory.

Mayor's attorney, Paul DeMarco, is concerned that Mallory may have to repay his car allowance monies.

Stay tuned for round two. The case heads back to court on May 16.

http://www.rr.com/local/topic/article/rr...mayor_Mark

Second suit filed over mayor's car allowance
5:39 PM, May. 16, 2011

Written by
Kimball Perry
kperry@enquirer.com

There's a new twist in the case where Cincinnati's mayor sued his employer to determine if he should continue to collect $500 per month in car allowance.

Two members of the anti-tax agency COAST, Mark Miller and Tom Brinkman, previously asked Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Norbert Nadel if they can intervene in the case. Now, they've filed their own lawsuit involving the same allegations.

"We felt it was important to be at the table in order to protect the interest of the taxpayer," attorney Chris Finney, representing Miller and Brinkman, said in a Monday hearing.

The sides were in court over the meaning of "compensation" in the city charter.

The Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes sent an April 4 letter to the city saying the city charter - which controls how the city is governed - makes no mention of the mayor being paid anything but compensation. That letter argued compensation only meant Mayor Mark Mallory's $121,000 annual salary and not the extra $6,000 per year the mayor gets for a car allowance.

After that letter, Mallory took the initiative and sued the city, asking the judge to determine if his "compensation" includes the car allowance.

Nadel has yet to rule on if he will allow Miller and Brinkman, the respective treasurer and head of COAST, to be involved in Mallory's case.

Despite that, Finney and fellow COAST attorney Curt Hartman were allowed to argue to the judge Monday. Finney said the city's attorney - Mallory is represented by private attorneys - aren't properly defending taxpayers against what Finney believes is the mayor's improper car allowance.

Cincinnati used to have a city-owned limo and a driver for the mayor, but when Charlie Luken first took office in 1984 it was determined that a car allowance would be more cost effective.

Assistant City Solicitor Terry Nestor suggested Finney filed the lawsuit, in part, to collect lawyer fees for it.

Finney admitted that suit seeks to have the attorney fees paid, either by the city - taxpayers - or the mayor.

Nadel asked attorneys for the city and Mallory to submit their arguments on paper by May 27. He will rule later.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110...|FRONTPAGE