A bombshell letter from the lawyer representing the London Downtown BIA's board of directors is taking direct aim at the organization’s critics and their high-profile lawyer.

Susan Toth says her letter is a response to false accusations.

“The letter is intended to keep us moving forward. We had to respond to some of those serious allegations but now what are we going to do next? One hundred percent those allegations have no merit to them.”

Late last year a petition signed by some downtown merchants and landlords called for changes to how the London Downtown Business Association (BIA) operates.

It claimed that the BIA’s leadership has failed to represent merchants’ views on numerous issues including downtown parking, food truck rules, bus rapid transit and supervised drug consumption sites.

Their lawyer, Michael Lerner, wrote in a letter that, “The chain of governance has broken down,” and that it was “fostering a toxic atmosphere of distrust and alienation.”

But Toth says allegations of improperly managed funds and questions about the salaries of Downtown London's CEO have no merit.

Downtown London's finances are independently audited each year, but last week the 2019 BIA budget was not approved during a contentious annual general meeting.

Ultimately both the board and the disgruntled merchants agreed to form a six-member 'ad hoc committee' evenly represented by both sides to work through their differences.

But Toth's letter now calls for a seven-member committee, including organizations which do not pay the levy that funds the BIA.

She says, “No one can tell me that Fanshawe doesn't have skin in the game, the Grand Theatre doesnt, the Convention Centre. They are part of the downtown. What it comes down to is the BIA, its mandate, is not to serve paying levy members, its mandate is improving the downtown.”

Toth adds that Michael Lerner’s law firm Lerners LLP may be in a conflict of interest and unable to keep representing the group of merchants because in the past it represented the BIA during Fanshawe College's purchase of the former Kingsmill's building.

“Lawyers owe a duty of loyalty not just to current clients but to former clients. If one day you hire a lawyer and then a year later they turn around and start acting against you, what message does that send to the public about what lawyers are like?”

Michael Lerner tells CTV News that he is not in position to comment until he has instructions from his clients.