Fayette Publishing Inc., parent

company of The Citizen Newspapers, has filed a court action seeking to

halt mediation talks between Fayette County and its three largest cities

pending a hearing to determine whether the mediation can legally be conducted

in secret.

[Publisher Cal Beverly explains

the newspaper's reasons for filing the lawsuit in his column on this page.]

The action came this week after

visiting Judge Stephen Boswell, who is overseeing the mediation, refused

to respond to The Citizen's earlier written request that he explain his

reasons for closing the talks.

The attorney for the newspapers

also have issued requests for any and all documents produced as a result

of the mediation, citing the federal Freedom of Information Act. The governments

involved have three days to respond to that request, which was delivered

Tuesday.

Fayette and the cities of Fayetteville,

Peachtree City and Tyrone are engaged in court-ordered mediation of a

long-standing dispute over tax equity. City officials have maintained

that their residents are taxed for more services than they receive from

the county about $2 million a year.

County leaders say there is

no tax inequity, that city residents receive more than their fair share

of services.

Boswell ordered mediation after

the cities filed a formal request that he do so. As part of those proceedings,

Boswell issued an order Dec. 14 requiring that the mediation be conducted

in private, and that the parties not talk about the discussions. Though

the order cites no statutory authority allowing the secret meetings, it

holds that the decision is "consistent with the general guidelines

for all mediations."

"In order to provide an

environment conducive to resolution, mediations are conducted in private

and information provided is confidential as between the parties and the

mediator," said Boswell in his mediation order.

Publisher Beverly decided to

question the legal grounds for the secrecy order, he said, because the

parties involved are not private citizens, as in most court-ordered mediations,

but governing bodies, and the matters they are discussing involve taxpayers'

interests.

"For us, the question

is simple Can a judge ignore one state law while implementing provisions

of another law, this one on mandatory mediation?" Beverly wrote in

his column. "Put another way, can judicial procedure and legal custom

trump state law?

"We believe anytime an

elected body talks about taxes, such talk should be open to the taxpayers

and subject to their scrutiny. We believe Judge Boswell has made a legal

error, one that can be corrected only through court action," Beverly

said.

The judge's "error,"

Beverly said, affected all Fayette County taxpayers.

The Citizen's objections come

as the parties continue to meet secretly. According to sources close to

the mediation, the parties hope to reach a conclusion soon.

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