NSBNEWS.net file photo / Oak Hill City Attorney is shown here in one of his final in-person appearances in March at a City Commission hearing. 

OAK HILL -- Pennywise and pound foolish: That has been the situation with Oak Hill's unique arrangement with City Attorney Scott Simpson since early spring where he's been accessible through Skype on the computer or by phone or often lately, not available at all.

But Simpson will be there in the flesh for tonight's special meeting regarding alleged corruption in the police department.

The city attorney's mandatory presence was requested by Commissioner Doug Gibson, the liason to the police force, who has legal questions about the alleged wrongdoing in the department. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the Oak Hill City Hall where several police officers are expected to be in attendance to answer questions.

There are a number of controversial issues and circumstances in the police department, from personnel disciplinary issues, to claims of false arrests and improper use of computer software.

Simpson had been regularly attending the commission meetings until late March when City Commissioner Ron Engele suggested it might be cheaper for him to make himself available electronically through Skype. Simpson was charging the city a flat fee of $250 per meeting plus $130 for each hour of the meeting with the understanding that he attend the public meetings like municipally-contracted city attorneys do in Volusia County's 14 other cities

as well as in the town of Ponce Inlet.

By making himself available to the commission via Skype on the Internet -- a two-way video feed on computer -- he agreed to a reduced flat rate of $125 per meeting and the same $130 an hour for his time on the computer.

In essence, the city was saving $125 per meeting. And in two of the last three meetings, he hasn't been available either because of a scheduling conflict or that City Clerk Administrator Laura Goodearly felt he wasn't needed. In the very first meeting where the arrangement was secured, Goodearly couldn't get the Skype connection to work and so he was called by phone instead and put on speaker phone.

NSBNews.net photo illustration by Sera Frederick / NSBNews.net has been denied access to videotaping or even taking a still photo of Simpson on Skype during the meetings, even though all government proceedings are required to be in the Sunshine.

The computer at the dais faces the mayor and the commissioners, but neither the media nor the audience can see him. So NSBNews.net created a likeness (at left) to illustrate what he would look like on Skype, if seen by the public. 

In cities like Port Orange and New Smyrna Beach, any electronic visual is shown on larger screens along the meeting room walls.

NSBNews.net, also known as VolusiaNews.net, provides Volusia County 24 / 7 Internet newspaper coverage, 100% free with breaking news, news of record and investigative reports from New Smyrna Beach, FL, for a 21st-century digital world.