Carmel Council President: Mayor Brainard Lied About $100,000 Payment To Libman

A plan to bail out the Carmel Redevelopment Commission has hit a snag after Carmel City Council President Rick Sharp discovered that a $100,000 payment was made to the former head of the Regional Performing Arts Center, Steven Libman, who resigned amidst allegations by Mayor Brainard that Libman was having an inappropriate relationship with a staff member and misusing funds. The story blew up shortly after Libman's abrupt resignation after it was learned that Brainard had hired a private investigator to spy on Libman. According to Sharp, both Brainard and the city's legal counsel, Doug Haney, had insisted that no settlement payment had been offered to Libman in exchange for his resignation. From WTHR:

A Carmel City Council member is calling for the ouster of the City Center's Development Commission after discovering its leaders paid the former CEO of the Palladium $100,000 to leave and not file a lawsuit.

After the CEO of the Carmel Palladium abruptly resigned last year amid serious allegations of misconduct, Eyewitness News has learned of a six-figure settlement to help him go away.

The discovery came as the Carmel City Council set out to investigate the Redevelopment Commission Debt . . .

Until now, Councilman Rick Sharp says City Attorney Doug Haney and Mayor Jim Brainard denied paying Libman any money. New documents now show that was not true.

Sharp revealed that the mayor and city attorney later paid $100,000 to Libman to keep Libman from filing a lawsuit against them. The settlement had never been disclosed to the council.

"When you're trying to deal with a body, an entity, an administration that has proven that they will actively cover up things, it's kind of tough for me to pull the trigger on a potential $200 million debt issue until I can feel that I have clearly gotten to the bottom of it all," said Sharp.

Sharp tells us he won't vote for the bailout until the city becomes more transparent.

In a statement released to reporters, Brainard defended the $100,000 settlement as a necessity for avoiding litigation with Libman over his firing. Brainard said he was unable to discuss the settlement details due to the confidentiality of the agreement. He suggested Sharp's criticism had more to do with his mayoral ambitions than his concern for the payment being made. "It would seem, however that the campaign for mayor has started early," Brainard said.