City Manager, Attorney Positions Discussed By Council

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

The Mesquite City Council heard agenda items delving into how the council should go about filling the top two administrative positions in the City staff during a meeting held on Tuesday, July 13.

In two separate items the Council approved a more extensive contract with Interim City Manager Andy Barton and voted to retain Interim City Attorney Adam Anderson while an extensive search for a full-time, in-house attorney could be conducted.

The new Professional Services Contract with Barton, approved by the council, replaced an earlier contract approved on May 18. It shifted Barton from an “independent contractor” relationship with a part-time position to a full-time city employee.

The new contract also increased Barton’s pay from the part-time amount of $6,626 per month to the full-time $12,348 per month.

Finally the new contract extends the contract term from the previous period of only 120 days, to a full six-month term with the possibility of month-to-month extensions beyond that.

According to a statement by Councilwoman Sandra Ramaker in the meeting, this would allow an ample timeframe to find a permanent candidate for the position.

“With this contract, Mr. Barton will become a regular employee which means that he will leave his retirement,” Ramaker added. “Mr. Barton did some research and has found out that he could remove himself from his PERS for a time, totally and completely, so that he could become an employee again. So he will be not be drawing PERS and wages from the city at the same time.”

Ramaker made the motion to approve the new employment agreement. The motion was approved with a unanimous vote.

On the matter of the City Attorney, the council was somewhat divided on what the permanent position would end up looking like in the long term. But all who spoke expressed satisfaction with the work being done by Interim City Attorney Adam Anderson and were content with continuing that relationship.

“Our current attorney has been agreeable to be our interim attorney until we find a permanent one,” said Ramaker. “The question is, how do we want to go about recruiting to get a city attorney for Mesquite.”

Councilman Brian Wursten said that he was content to continue with Anderson indefinitely. But he said he was not at all confident that an in-house city attorney would be found at the salary that the city is able to pay for the position.

“I’ll be honest, we are going to have a devil of a time finding an attorney, especially if the thought is that the position is going to be dedicated in-house,” Wursten said. “So I would just recommend that we continue with Mr. Anderson if he is interested in doing so.”

“I think it is a great thought in theory to go ahead and float this position,” Wursten added. “But at the end of the day, I think it is going to be lost money because you’re just not going to find somebody to take the position.”

Ramaker responded that she had nothing against Anderson and the work he had done for the city. “But I am a firm believer that we need an in-house attorney that is ours,” Ramaker said. “Mr. Anderson has been able to give us certain times during certain days; and it has been a reasonable cost. But I honestly believe that we need to go and look for our own attorney who is available whenever we need him or her.”
Councilman Wes Boger agreed with this. But he urged Anderson to consider filling that role himself. He asked if Anderson would consider this.

“I want you to be the in-house city attorney,” Boger said to Anderson. “But in any case, we definitely need to find someone in-house in my opinion.”

“I can keep working as-is until the council makes a determination,” Anderson responded. “But I’d prefer to stay with my firm. If the council decides to hire an in-house, full-time attorney then I can continue on and help with the transition if that is what’s determined.”

Mayor Al Litman agreed that, in a perfect world, it would be ideal to have a dedicated, in-house attorney. But such a thing has become rare in cities across the country, he said.

“I did some research to see what is going on with hiring of city attorneys around the country,” Litman said. “An in-house relationship is few and far between, to put it bluntly.”

“If you get somebody who is experienced, there is nowhere in our pay grades that we can pay the kind of money that they are going to request,” Litman said. “So I agree with Mr. Wursten that it would be a difficult thing to find. And I’m very pleased with the work that is being done right now.”

During public comment period, Mesquite resident Steve Clutterham acknowledged that it would be difficult to fill the in-house position. “But one thing I can guarantee is, if you never look, you’re never going to find one,” he said. “That is for sure.”

In the end, Ramaker made a motion to move forward and, at least advertise an in-house city attorney position. The motion passed with a 4-1 vote. Wursten cast the lone dissenting vote.