Tederick addresses Financial Disclosure submission and tie to law firm hired in Town’s EDA lawsuit

In a December 2^nd telephone interview Interim Front Royal Town Manager Matt Tederick dismissed questions about seeming gaps in his State-required “Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council STATE AND LOCAL STATEMENT OF ECONOMIC INTERESTS” form submitted to the Town for his Interim Mayor’s appointment as the work of political enemies.

“I’m a political figure and politics is what it is … and political enemies will get their pound of flesh. I’m used to it,” Tederick said of increased public scrutiny of his business interests during his tenure as, first Interim Mayor and now Interim Town Manager. Much of that scrutiny has come in two Letters to the Editor of Royal Examiner by Simon Mays.

The former Warren County supervisor and long-time county Republican Committee chairman said his perception of those letters published under the titles “Words Do Matter” and “Matthew Tederick’s Peyton Places”, the latter a reference to the 100 Peyton Street Front Royal address of some businesses with apparent Tederick ties, as an attempt to drag him or those businesses entities “into the EDA thing”. Tederick explained some of those business ties as simply being the landlord and picking up mail for absent tenants, leading to some “Registered Agent” designations.

Matt Tederick on the job as Interim Mayor at June work session. Royal Examiner File Photo/Roger Bianchini

We told Tederick we didn’t read Mays’ letters as an attempt to tie anyone, including him, to the EDA financial scandal, but rather as a call for an over-abundance of care in both public statements and due diligence regarding such financial disclosure filings by any municipal official at this point in time while public mistrust of municipal leadership is at such a peak due to the EDA financial scandal.

Of the appearance of David Damiani of the Damiani & Damiani law firm as the Registered Agent of not only the Alexandria law firm bearing his family name, but for 1839 Capital LLC which lists Tederick as “President”, Tederick said that if not in his financial disclosure and conflict of interest statement where 1839 Capital is not listed, the connection – in addition to Damiani’s Registered Agent designation the two companies share the same 604 Cameron Street address in Alexandria – was extensively discussed with the Town Attorney and Council as the law firm was considered to help represent the Town in its civil suit against the EDA.

On November 25, Damiani & Damiani PC was approved by Council for up to $200,000 in legal fees related to the Town’s civil suit against the EDA. In fact, Tederick said that while still serving as Interim Mayor in October, he recalled handing the mayor’s gavel over to Vice Mayor Bill Sealock when the hiring of Damiani & Damiani was discussed.

As for 1839 Capital’s exclusion from his financial disclosure form, Tederick explained that as a new start-up company – its website indicates an “active” SEC filing process stretching from May 17 to August 9 while Tederick was emerging as a candidate for, and then serving as Interim Front Royal Mayor – the company has yet to generate any income. That lack of income precluded the company needing to be added to Tederick’s State financial disclosure and conflict of interest form, he said in the December 2 phone interview.

In fact, Tederick said he contacted the State’s Ethics and Advisory Council to help in his preparation of the financial disclosure and conflict of interest form. He cited Ethics Committee staffer Stuart Petoe as the person who helped “walk me through” that preparation – “I’ve disclosed everything I get income from,” Tederick said.

And Tederick added that he had conversations with Town Attorney Doug Napier regarding the potential hiring of Damiani & Damiani to assist in the Town civil action against the EDA. In fact, Tederick said he had asked David Damiani, whom he had recently met, if he could recommend a law firm that was experienced in handling civil municipal litigation as the Town was looking for such a company regarding its EDA civil suit.

“You don’t know what we do,” was Damiani’s reply Tederick said. Damiani then informed Tederick of the company’s background in “class action lawsuits for and against municipal entities”.

Tederick next to Town Attorney Napier in his current Interim Town Manager’s seat – Royal Examiner File Photo/Mark Williams

Tederick took that information to Town Attorney Napier, who participated in the vetting process and agreed that Damiani & Damiani “was absolutely the right law firm” to assist in the Town’s civil case against the EDA seeking recovery of an as-yet-to-be-determined amount of Town financial assets.

Tederick said he was able to negotiate a favorable rate with Damiani & Damiani related to travel expenses because one of its members had moved out this way.

As reported in our story “Town skirts EDA request for FRPD construction back payments”, up to $200,000 in legal expenses was authorized for payment to Damiani & Damiani in one of three November 25^th motions related to the Town litigation against the EDA. In addition to the $200,000 in legal expenses, council authorized $45,000 to Mitchell & Company PC for “auditing services to support litigation in the Town’s civil lawsuit against …the EDA”.

In a third motion council authorized a budget amendment transferring $282,000 in scheduled debt service payments to the EDA to cover legal and auditing expenses in its EDA civil action. Contacted later in the week, Town Finance Director B. J. Wilson confirmed that those transfers do relate to the Town debt service overpayments he discovered in the spring of 2018. It was that discovery and a subsequent August 23 confrontation between Town staff and auditors and then EDA Executive Director Jennifer McDonald and then EDA Board Chairman Greg Drescher that began the dominoes of the EDA financial scandal tumbling into motion.

All motions were approved by 5-0 votes with now Mayor Tewalt’s council seat vacant.