A nationally recognized Nashville constitutional law attorney is urging newly installed Mayor Freddie O’Connell to fire Metro Nashville’s controversial legal director Wally Dietz (pictured above) on allegations of “relentless malfeasance in the Department of Law.”
Based on Daniel Horowitz’s email to Metro Council members, it appears at least some city leaders may agree with the attorney.
The email, sent early Tuesday, urged O’Connell to appoint a “better candidate” to lead the government’s legal department.
“I can recount a host of examples—and I know that many members of this body have their own, because many of you have told me about them privately—but I will detail one recent example that lies directly at Mr. Dietz’s feet so that you can see for yourselves how he and his Department behave when you are not looking,” Horwitz wrote.
The Tennessee Star reached out to several council members. Only one could be reached for comment before Tuesday’s council meeting. Council Member Tom Cash, who represents District 18, said he had just had a chance to read a portion of the email and was going to dig deeper into it. Until then, Cash said he could not comment.
Horwitz also did not return a request for comment.
In his email, the attorney alleges the city’s legal director covered up malfeasance and has mistreated “people that the Metropolitan Government has harmed.”
Exhibit A, according to Horwitz, is Kimberly Jones-Mbuyi, mother of Michaela Carter. The 24-year-old Carter was murdered while on a 911 call. Her violent ex-husband, fresh from prison, had been seen at a family member’s home with a gun.
Horwitz wrote that the city’s legal department played “hardball” with Jones-Mbuyi following her lawsuit against the city for its “role in causing her daughter’s death.”
There’s nothing unusual about a city’s legal team trying to protect taxpayers in lawsuit settlements. But Horwitz charges the law department attempted to “extort Ms. Jones-Mbuyi into taking less money than she is due.”
Dietz did not return The Star’s email seeking comment. Nor did O’Connell’s office.
A spokesperson for the mayor did tell Fox17 that “Wally Dietz has Mayor O’Connell’s full support to continue to serve the city as legal Director.”
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Wally Dietz” by Wally Dietz.
