Wednesday, November 27, 2002
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Wednesday, November 27, 2002 |
PTC appoints separate city attorney and solicitor to replace LindseyBy JOHN
MUNFORD Beginning next year, Peachtree City will have a separate city attorney and municipal court solicitor. The City Council has selected the firm of Saunders, Haugen, Sears and Meeker, P.C. to serve as city attorney. Warren A. Sellers, P.C. was chosen to serve as city solicitor. Saunders, Haugen, Sears and Meeker, P.C. currently serves as the town attorney for Tyrone while Sellers also currently serves as the city solicitor for Fayetteville. The arrangement will allow current city attorney and solicitor Rick Lindsey to complete a transition period and get the new attorneys up to speed before his departure. Lindsey chose to resign earlier this year and resisted a request from councilman Steve Rapson to reconsider staying on board. Lindsey said he has enjoyed serving the city, but he felt it was time for him to move on. Saunders, Haugen, Sears and Meeker, P.C. will charge the city $110 per hour for city attorney services with no retainer. Using the hours recorded by Lindsey for the 2002 fiscal year, city staff project a savings of $28,412 for the services. Sellers has agreed to a flat rate of $48,000 for the entire year with an additional $100-per-hour fee for working on appeals cases that arise from municipal court. Based on the solicitor costs paid by the city for 2002, this would save an estimated $42,572, according to city staff. Lindsey said Sellers may raise his flat fee next year since Peachtree City Police Chief James Murray requires the solicitor's presence whenever a defense attorney wants to speak with a police officer. "It's a lot of hours looking at (video) tapes, talking with defense attorneys, talking with officers," Lindsey said. Although many applications were received from lawyers wishing to serve in both roles as an in-house attorney, city staff determined that would cost over $300,000 to accomplish, said Finance Director Paul Salvatore. Neither appointment was filled unanimously since councilwoman Annie McMenamin abstained on both votes, complaining that the entire council should have reviewed each application and selected the top two or three candidates. Councilman Murray Weed, himself a municipal attorney for Hapeville, performed that service at the request of Mayor Steve Brown. McMenamin said Brown "overstepped" his authority in asking Weed to perform that function. But Brown argued that the documents were available for review at City Hall and McMenamin could have requested to see them. Weed insisted that the top selections for each position were well-qualified. He added as a disclaimer that Ted Meeker, an attorney with Saunders, Haugen, Sears and Meeker, P.C., contributed to his campaign, but Lindsey determined Weed could still vote on the issue and not violate the city's ethics ordinance.
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