Chad,

All requests for legal input come through the City Manager, even though the Council hires and fires our City Attorney.  Sometimes the Mayor or Council might ask me to get a response from our Attorney, but, I usually make the request. With Attorney fees ranging from $175 an hour and up, it makes fiscal sense to control access. With your budget, maybe finances aren’t an issue.

Michael

-----Original Message-----
From: Chad Olsen [mailto:chad@ci.st-helens.or.us]
Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 1:42 PM
To: Oregon City/County Management Association
Subject: [occma] City Attorney Contacts

The City Council is reviewing a “rules and procedures” policy and a question came up concerning contacts initiated by Council to the contracted City Attorney.  The draft policy is:

Members of the Council requesting a legal opinion of the City Attorney may do so directly during a meeting or if the Mayor is aware of the inquiry.

I’m looking for city practices on this issue.

Chad