The

Citizen has ended its lawsuit against the city of

Fayetteville after being satisfied that the city

met its disclosure responsibilities concerning

the case of former City Manager Mike Bryant.

motion for voluntary dismissal without prejudice

was filed June 13 in Fayette County Superior

Court, according to Don Johnson, attorney for The

Citizen. The newspaper will not pursue the matter

further or attempt to recover legal fees, he

said.

"After

we filed the suit, the city began to make

disclosure," Johnson said. "They should

have disclosed everything before the suit was

filed. It's regrettable we had to file the suit.

"The

paper feels vindicated in trying to get the

people of the community information they have a

right to know about what's going on at their City

Hall," he added.

Mayor

Kenneth Steele announced the dismissal publicly

at Monday night's City Council meeting. His only

comment at that time was, "I hope this gets

as prominent a headline in the paper as the

original announcement to file the suit."

Steele said he would probably comment further at

a later date.

The

suit, filed in February, sought to force the city

to release records concerning Bryant's recent

month-long suspension. The suit also questioned

the legality of the council's hearing of any

complaints and any evidence against Bryant in

executive session, closed to the public.

City

Council suspended Bryant with pay Jan. 12,

following discussion in a closed session. Council

members steadfastly declined to reveal the reason

for the action, except to say that at least one

city employee had brought complaints, and Bryant

was suspended pending an investigation.

Bryant

resigned in February following City Council's

unanimous approval of a negotiated separation

agreement. Both Bryant and the city agreed to

file no future legal action concerning his

termination.

lawyer hired by city attorney David Winkle to

investigate the matter was scheduled to take

depositions from witnesses in February, but

lawyers for the city and Bryant worked out a

separation agreement at the last minute, making

the depositions unnecessary.

"At

the present time, City Council has not considered

matters described [as] ... evidence or hearing

argument on charges filed to determine

disciplinary action or dismissal of a public

officer or employee," wrote Mayor Steele in

a Feb. 16 reply to The Citizen's request to see

records in the case.

In

response to a formal written request for records

just before the suit was filed, Steele cited the

potential for lawsuits and the right of attorneys

and clients to consult in private as reasons the

meeting was conducted in closed session and the

records could not be released.

Cal

Beverly, editor-publisher of The Citizen, charged

that the Jan. 12 meeting should have been

conducted in public, along with any other

meetings where information about the complaints

was discussed.

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