Wednesday, June 20, 2001
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Wednesday, June 20, 2001 |
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Higher legal bills causing concern for PTC Council By JOHN
MUNFORD
Guided by a request from Peachtree City Councilman Dan Tennant, the city's rising legal bills will be discussed at Thursday night's council meeting. Tennant has suggested one way to save money might be to hire an in-house attorney rather than contracting with an outside firm. In a letter to council, City Attorney Rick Lindsey said while the city's legal bills were up 45 percent in 2000 compared to 1999, he expected the costs to be reduced significantly once several legal matters are concluded in the near future. Lindsey, a member of the law firm Webb, Lindsey, Collins, Jones and Wade LLC, serves as city attorney and also the prosecutor in city court. Steps have been taken recently to try and reduce the city's legal bills, Lindsey noted, including the use of a second attorney from the firm during city court at no cost to the city which helps dispose of cases quicker. According to information provided to council, one option is for council to hire its own in-house attorney. Of 21 metro area governments surveyed by the city, only Roswell had in-house legal representation. Lindsey currently works at a rate of $130 per hour, which is less than 2/3 of his normal hourly rate, he noted. He has recommended against creating an in-house city attorney's position at this time, but he suggested keeping an eye on the situation for the future if such a move is financially beneficial to the city. Lindsey estimated it would cost at least $100,000 a year to hire an attorney with experience representing cities which face growth pressures in affluent areas. Also, the city would have to hire a paralegal to assist the attorney, he added. In explaining this year's legal bills, Lindsey said the Home Depot/Wal-Mart development issues have taken up much of his time, along with a doubling in the amount of city court matters he has handled. Much time and money has also been spent on a federal lawsuit filed against the city and three police officers, Lindsey said. So far this year, $38,000 has been spent on that litigation, filed by the O'Keefe family, which claims police illegally entered their home and arrested them. The matter is pending in federal court in Newnan. Lindsey also noted other legal matters he has been involved with this year, including the revision of the city charter, the ethics ordinance, negotiating the county jail impact fee and work on the tax inequity issue between the cities and the Fayette County Board of Commissioners. "In short, the city has placed a lot on my plate this year," Lindsey said. Lindsey also said he would not speak to council on the matter at the meeting since he is forbidden from doing so by the city's ethics ordinance. He noted that he could speak to council members before the meeting in an "unofficial" capacity. Lindsey added that to make "every effort to adhere to the ethics ordinance," he would not bill the city for reviewing the bills or writing his letter to council.
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