Legal bills unpaid

Hamilton County Auditor Dusty Rhodes has refused to allow about $400,000 in legal fees submitted by Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease to be paid, saying the law firm missed -- again -- a deadline.

The bills are for legal work done by Vorys attorney Tom Gabelman, the private attorney Hamilton County hired to provide legal services for such issues as The Banks development project and Hamilton County's interest in having the Health Alliance of Cincinnati operate the Drake Center, Inc.

Rhodes refused to pay the bills submitted Dec. 13 because they were submitted one day after a deadline the law firm knew about.

The intent, Rhodes suggested, is far more nefarious.

"They didn't want me to review them," Rhodes said of the bills. "It's really dissing this office."

Rhodes' office found "minor errors" including mathematical calulations, that an auditor's review should find, in some of the Vorys bills.

Rhodes has told the law firm it can resubmit the bills for payment.

Gabelman sought commissioners' help in a Dec. 19 e-mail, saying his law firm has helped Hamilton County financially, including paying up front more than $250,000 for consultants for which Hamilton County has to reimburse the firm.

This was a big issue for Rhodes in December, he said, because Vorys has been late "many, many, many, many times" in the past.

That, Gabelman noted, was because of the number of reviews -- as many as six -- the bills undergo before they are submitted to the Auditor for payment.