As anticipated, the Board of Hillsborough County Commissioners voted Thursday morning to terminate County Attorney Renee Lee after nearly seven years of service, after press reports surfaced over the past several weeks of a secret meeting she had with former County Commissioner Kevin White, who the county is currently involved in litigation with.
As part of the vote to fire her, attorneys for Lee and the County then began discussions immediately afterward to determine if they could come up with a settlement package for her. The county's charter permits the board to fire Lee without cause – but means she would be entitled to a severance, which would cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"Thank you for allowing me to serve on this board, " Lee said stoically, immediately after the commission unanimously agreed 7-0 on Commissioner Ken Hagan's motion to fire Lee but have the county's attorney retained for this issue – Richard McCrea, work with her attorney, Robert McKee on a possible settlement.
This article appears in Jun 2-8, 2011.