Riverwalk Village opponents allege Hoover Healthcare Authority lawyers mislead administrative law judge

HOOVER, Ala. (WBRC) – One of the chief opponents of the surgical center project in Hoover’s proposed Riverwalk Village project is accusing attorneys for the Hoover Healthcare Authority of violating Alabama Bar Association rules by knowingly submitting an affidavit that had been changed, without alerting the judge or opposing counsel.

In the complaint filed with the Alabama Bar Association Friday, Loree Skelton alleges 2 attorneys for the Hoover Healthcare Authority (Hoover HCA) submitted an affidavit from developer Robert Simon into evidence during the Certificate of Need hearing that the administrative law judge and Skelton’s attorneys believed was the same as an affidavit reviewed in a previous hearing, but included a key change – the date of an alleged conversation between Simon and developer William Kadish – a change Skelton claims the Hoover HCA attorneys didn’t alert to the judge or her attorneys.

Skelton’s complaint says the date of this alleged Simon/Kadish conversation was key, because Simon testified Kadish (the developer of the Stadium Trace Phase 2 project proposal which also includes a proposed surgical center) told Simon he was going to “take down Hoover City Council President John Lyda and Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato and had the votes to do so.” Simon’s affidavit says Kadish was angry that Simon’s Corporate Realty group had reached an agreement for the Riverwalk Project and its surgical center before Kadish had reached one for the Stadium Trace Phase 2—and Skelton claims the original affidavit submitted by Simon says that run-in happened on March 21st. Skelton says that date undercuts Simon’s testimony because it is 6 days after she and her Forest Park Group (FPG) filed notice that they intended to dispute the HCA’s application for a Certificate Of Need for the Riverwalk Village Project.

Skelton’s complaint to the ABA alleges that after her attorneys questioned Simon at the 1st hearing, the Hoover HCA attorneys entered Simon’s affidavit about the run-in again at the 2nd and full hearing, but that affidavit had the date of the alleged Simon/Kadish run-in changed to March 14th, the day before FPG filed notice to oppose the project. Skelton’s complaint includes a transcript of the hearing where HCA attorneys submit the Simon affidavit saying “it has been provided to Your Honor previously, and I think we can forego detailed questions on this if we can just have the affidavit admitted.”

In the ABA complaint, Skelton says her attorneys and the Administrative Law Judge only discovered the date change after the affidavit was admitted into the official record.

We reached out to the 2 attorneys named in Skelton’s complaint to provide them an opportunity to comment, but haven’t heard back. We reached out to the city of Hoover to provide them an opportunity to respond, as well.

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