County Commissioner John Brooks said Tuesday he finds actions in the trustee’s office "bizarre" and said he agrees that Back Tax Attorney Terry McGhehey must stop using an office at the county courthouse.

(chattanoogan.com) Tax Attorney - Back Tax Attorney  -Tax Attorney - Commissioner Brooks said, "As a new commissioner, many things in the courthouse still seem strange to me. The current actions of our assistant trustee really do seem to be the most bizarre of anything that I have noticed.

"Our elected Trustee, Carl Levi, fired two employees that have been there for many years. I do not know the reason, but he is the official in that office and he said that he did not need their services.

Then, once he is out of the country, we suddenly have Mr. McGhehey working out of the courthouse. This is costing us, as taxpayers, a six-figure number. I find it hard to understand, when we have a fine county attorney’s office, why they are not doing this for the trustee and why we suddenly have a private attorney using the county’s resources to collect these taxes that we end up paying him to collect.

"I agree with Chairman Henry that Mr. McGhehey will have to go."

Commission Chairman Larry Henry said attorney McGhehey is working on a contract and is not a county employee.

He said the commission will discuss the issue on Thursday morning.

Assistant Trustee Dawn Patton is on duty in the office, while Trustee Carl Levi is on an overseas trip.