Merced needs a full-time city attorney
It is critical that the Merced City Council acts to hire a full-time city attorney. You might wonder why this is so important, or even what a city attorney does.
Our city is ever changing – for the better – with the city attorney critical to protecting the city’s assets, interests in contracts and communications. For example, he or she must deal with the state concerning funding matters, with builders over quality of development, holding high-speed rail representatives accountable, working with the University of California over serving students and staff as integral members of the city, and with other government districts and agencies to ensure the city is treated fairly.
The city attorney is essential in turning City Council policy into local law, and defending the city against lawsuits.
The city of Merced has been without a city attorney for over a year.
For 13 years, the city employed Greg Diaz as its full-time attorney until September 2014. He and his team did an excellent job representing the city through a multiyear flood lawsuit, dismantling our redevelopment agency, converting council elections to district elections, implementing ordinances and providing day-to-day oversight of legal matters woven into all work in City Hall. His skill set was an essential asset throughout his tenure.
Randolph Hom was hired in February 2015. Unfortunately, he took another job in December 2015. Using a professional recruiting agency, the city hired Jennifer McGrath in March 2016, then ended her contract two months later. The city advertised and recruited for another attorney starting in August, but no interviews have been scheduled. To compound the problem, the deputy city attorney took another job in August.
Since last June, the City Council has protected the city by contracting with a private law firm (Berliner Cohen) to fill the position.
Some cities contract with private law firms for all their legal services rather than hire one attorney as a city employee. Some people want to do that here in Merced, but I think that would be a mistake.
Berliner Cohen has done good work, but the city pays them $290 per hour. The city’s contract limits the firm to no more than 100 hours per month, up to $29,000 per month or $348,000 per year. The hours are split among three attorneys; the most senior is from the firm’s San Jose office.
Compare this to an attorney working full-time as a city employee. The last city attorney was paid $90 per hour plus benefits, less than a third of what the contract attorney is paid. For working 166 hours monthly, a city attorney gets a gross pay of $15,000 plus benefits ($180,000 per year), a little more than half of what the contract attorney is paid even though the contract attorney works 66 fewer hours per month.
A contract city attorney often lives outside the Merced area and so doesn’t know the community. They might not understand issues like flooding and drainage, homelessness and poverty, agricultural practices and business development in Merced. They will not attend community events or social functions, or become a member of the community.
The city’s funds are limited; if it spends nearly double what it should for attorney services, there is less for police, fire, public works and recreation services. I do not believe this is the best way to spend taxpayer dollars.
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again,” goes the adage.
Yes, the council has had difficulty recruiting a city attorney. However, Merced deserves the full-time attention of a seasoned professional to oversee our path to prosperity. Our town is the 100th largest city of California’s 482 cities by population. Cities of similar size have full-time city attorneys, especially growing communities like Merced.
The City Council directly hires only four employees: the city manager, finance director, city clerk and city attorney. It is one of the most important actions the council can fill. The City Council ought to conduct a statewide recruitment and hire an attorney. It is the most economical course to achieve high quality legal services from an employee dedicated to the city and who is a member of the community.
Share your opinion with the mayor and council members.
Mike Belluomini is a Merced city councilman; he wrote this for the Merced Sun-Star.
This story was originally published January 10, 2017 at 5:27 PM with the headline "Merced needs a full-time city attorney."