Harrisburg City Council Attorney Says He’s Being ‘Ganged Up Upon’...

Some days it’s tough to be Mark D. Schwartz, Esq.

On Wednesday, Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson joined the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Dauphin County in asking the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to levy sanctions against Schwartz for filing a frivolous appeal. The outspoken lawyer for the Harrisburg City Council has been trying to deal with the city’s problems with Chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code rather than through a state-run process.

In addition to asking for the appeal to be dismissed, Thompson asked the court to “award damages and double costs against appellant’s counsel, Mark D. Schwartz.” The district court that dismissed his previous appeal already characterized Schwartz’s “position as ‘potentially frivolous’ and found that appellant failed to show excusable neglect and ‘has not acted in good faith,’” she said.

“Getting ganged up upon,” Schwartz fired off in an email to reporters about the mayor’s motion.

The move by the mayor, along with the similar motions from the state and county, are just the latest developments in the Harrisburg saga.

The Harrisburg City Council, at odds with the mayor and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, placed the city in Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection late last year. A bankruptcy judge twice threw out the filing, so Schwartz appealed to the district court.

Judge Sylvia Rambo upheld the bankruptcy court’s ruling, which dismissed the first appeal because it wasn’t filed by the Dec. 7 deadline.

Appealing again, this time to the Third Circuit, Schwartz said at the time that “I think it was unfair of the bankruptcy court to dismiss the appeal without a hearing.” Although the city missed the deadline, it filed a request for an extension and the judge’s opinion was issued well after the order, he said.

“I don’t think it’s so extraordinary” to ask for a hearing, Schwartz said. “Hopefully the court of appeals agrees.”

Meanwhile, the state’s process isn’t going particularly well, either. Harrisburg’s state-appointed receiver resigned in March without providing a reason after developing a plan to sell certain assets that didn’t rule out another Chapter 9 filing.

After the resignation, Schwartz told Dow Jones Newswires, “From what’s happened the last couple days, it was pretty clear to me that you’d either see him resigning or getting replaced by Corbett,” adding that the receiver’s call for an investigation may have indicated the receiver realized he was on the wrong side of the dispute.

Schwartz was also quick to point out in his email Wednesday that Thompson “raises the fact that a receiver was appointed but says nothing of his ethical problem and untenable position. Out of sight, out of mind. Better to shoot at me.”

So the beat goes on for Harrisburg. “Look for my reply,” Schwartz signed off.