Reading Mayor Thomas McMahon has retained Stevens and Lee to negotiate an agreement with a developer, Ed Giannasca. Stevens and Lee has also been retained as Bond Counsel for the TIF that will accompany this agreement. Council believes this is a clear conflict but Stevens and Lee disagrees.
Stevens and Lee contributed a large amount of money to the mayor’s political campaign. One of his first acts was firing the City’s outside legal counsel and rehiring Steven’s and Lee (all without an RFP [Request For Proposal]).
Council eventually got the Administration to do an RFP for legal services, and guess how the results came in?
Editor’s note: Stevens and Lee managed to represent virtually all sides at one time or another pertaining to the Convention Center / Hotel Project and was paid around $8 million by the Convention Center Authority for services, the nature and validity of which have been concealed from the media and public.
