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Sarasota News Leader November 15, 2013 Page 35 of Commissioner Susan Chapman? She is accused of violating the state's Sunshine laws after she and Commissioner Suzanne Atwell met with downtown merchants to hear their views about the vagrancy and homelessness issues around them. The city and the two commissioners individually were sued by the nonprofit group Citizens for Sunshine. An out-of-court settlement is pending with the city and Atwell. But Chapman maintains her innocence and has not agreed to any settlement. If the suit continues, who will pay for Chapman's defense? That is the question of the evening. City Commissioner Susan Chapman's colleagues on Monday will discuss how to handle her legal fees in a Sunshine suit. Photo by Norman Schimmel In a memo, City Attorney Bob Fournier lays out three options available to the city. First, the city could continue to pay Chapman's legal bills. "However this might create a situation in the future where the city commission would want to seek reimbursement for all or a portion of the fees paid, depending on the disposition or the outcome of the suit," Fournier wrote. Or the city could just cut Chapman lose. Fournier wrote, "[T]he city commission may discharge its obligation in the form of a reimbursement to Commissioner Chapman at the conclusion of the litigation. This option is possible because the city's obligation to pay legal fees is essentially conditioned upon a successful defense of the suit (or upon settlement with no admission of a violation)." Another option is a limited payment plan. The memo says, "the city commission could In other words, only if Chapman wins would authorize payment of a specified not to exceed the city pay her legal fees. But in the meantime she would be on her own. % amount of attorney fees at this time." FREE SUBSCRIPTION Don't have your own subscription to The Sarasota News Leader? Subscribe for FREE and receive a weekly notification when the latest issue is available online.