Can anyone explain why Councilman Pepelea had a contract with the City of Anderson

Wow, I finally get to read The Anderson Herald Bulletin's Pepelea wants $75K from city and I am not sure that I am any the wiser. Or happier.

Here is what is clear:

1. Anderson City Councilman Art Pepelea gets the broker's commission for an insurance deal with the City of Anderson and Anthem insurance.
2. He ran on the promise of not taking a broker's commission and so saved the City money.
3. In November of 2008, the Anderson City Council approved a contract where Pepelea would get a commission.
4. The Democrats controlled the city council.
5. The article quotes the Complaint that Mayor Ockomon sent a letter to Anthem but no one from The Herald Bulletin appears to have obtained this letter or gotten any confirmation from Anthem about the letter's contents.

On the face of it this is a good case of third-party interference with a contract except for one thing. Was there a contract between the city and Anthem which gave Pepelea any rights?

After the contract was approved, it was sent to Anthem officials for them to sign. An unknown city employee contacted Anthem officials and told them to put the contract on hold until Jan. 1, when Ockomon, a Democrat, took office, according to the notice.

That paragraph contributes only massive confusion. I have written about third party interference here. If you read that article, you can see that at least two elements are at the least questionable: a valid, existing contract and who did the interfering.

Not that Pepelea is out of luck entirely. Without a contract, Pepelea would have a case for intentional interference with a business relationship and/or interference with a prospective advantage. If his attorney remembered to add these claims to the tort claims notice.

Politically, I am still wondering why this alleged contract was approved by the council. Curiouser and curiouser.