CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE NO LONGER LEADING TOXIC TOWERS DEFENSE TEAM

In March we learned, and reported to you, that Assistant City Attorney Daniel Ophoff was acting as the spokesman for the defendants in the Hazardous Waste Management Act complaint currently pending against the Boardwalk developers and the City of Grand Rapids.  Ophoff's action was part and parcel of the close cooperation of the City Attorney's Office with the Boardwalk polluters, which include Dykema Excavators Inc., a City contractor.  Why the taxpayers should expend one dime for the defense of parties who spread toxic waste across the north end of town was beyond me.

What was not reported to you was my request to Grand Rapids City Commissioner Rick Tormala to investigate this matter.  He promised he would.  Whether or not Tormala had any effect, as of Tuesday it now looks like Todd Dickinson, the attorney for the Boardwalk developers and one of the lead contractors Pioneer Inc., will act as the spokesman for the defendants and not Ophoff.