May 28, 2010 6:11 PM
Judge dismisses two lawsuits over Silverdome sale
Crain's Detroit Business
By Chad Halcom
An Oakland County Circuit Court judge this week agreed to dismiss two
lawsuits against Pontiac and its state-appointed Emergency Financial
Manager Fred Leeb, over the sale of the Pontiac Silverdome to Triple Properties Inc. that closed last December.
Judge Edward Sosnick on Thursday granted summary disposition of the lawsuit filed by would-be stadium buyer Silver Stallion Development Corp., which alleged breach of contract and racial discrimination in the sale to Triple Properties for $583,000.
Silver Stallion, the company headed by attorney H. Wallace Parker, had entered into a purchase agreement for the stadium for $20 million, later reduced to $17 million, but never closed on the sale.
“As to any claim for…breach of contract, the undisputed evidence shows the contract (with the city) expired when the parties failed to close in November 2008…,” Sosnick's ruling states. “As to the claim for race discrimination, the (parties never produced) any evidence whatsoever that race had anything to do with the parties' failure to close on the sale.”
Sosnick also dismissed a separate lawsuit by a group of city residents, including Oakland County Commissioner Mattie Hatchett and former Pontiac School District Superintendent Mildred Mason, alleging due process violations and a violation of the city charter provision, giving the Council the power to decide on the sale of city assets.
Sosnick found in that case that the individuals did not have standing, and that the state law defining the powers of emergency financial matters gave Leeb authority to make the sale.
“These lawsuits have gone on now for nearly six months after the fact. A small group of local people complained very loudly that was improper, and now we see it was proper and correct,” Leeb said Friday in response to the judge's decisions.
“The sale of the Silverdome, even at $583,000, was probably one of the best decisions the city has made in many years, because it saved $2 million a year in maintenance, and we have found a buyer who has reopened the Silverdome and even hosted events there already, and brings jobs to the city.”
Judge Edward Sosnick on Thursday granted summary disposition of the lawsuit filed by would-be stadium buyer Silver Stallion Development Corp., which alleged breach of contract and racial discrimination in the sale to Triple Properties for $583,000.
Silver Stallion, the company headed by attorney H. Wallace Parker, had entered into a purchase agreement for the stadium for $20 million, later reduced to $17 million, but never closed on the sale.
“As to any claim for…breach of contract, the undisputed evidence shows the contract (with the city) expired when the parties failed to close in November 2008…,” Sosnick's ruling states. “As to the claim for race discrimination, the (parties never produced) any evidence whatsoever that race had anything to do with the parties' failure to close on the sale.”
Sosnick also dismissed a separate lawsuit by a group of city residents, including Oakland County Commissioner Mattie Hatchett and former Pontiac School District Superintendent Mildred Mason, alleging due process violations and a violation of the city charter provision, giving the Council the power to decide on the sale of city assets.
Sosnick found in that case that the individuals did not have standing, and that the state law defining the powers of emergency financial matters gave Leeb authority to make the sale.
“These lawsuits have gone on now for nearly six months after the fact. A small group of local people complained very loudly that was improper, and now we see it was proper and correct,” Leeb said Friday in response to the judge's decisions.
“The sale of the Silverdome, even at $583,000, was probably one of the best decisions the city has made in many years, because it saved $2 million a year in maintenance, and we have found a buyer who has reopened the Silverdome and even hosted events there already, and brings jobs to the city.”
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