The Palm Coast City Council ended its 16-year relationship with one law firm Tuesday evening as it approved a contract with St. Augustine’s Douglas Law Firm in a replacement.
“I can only hope that the longevity of this agreement is similar to what we’ve enjoyed with our prior firm,” Mayor David Alfin said.
The council hires and fires only two people: the city manager and the city attorney, both of whom answer to the council, not to the administration, though both work for either side of the divide.
The council in January 2008 hired Orlando law firm Garganese, Weiss, D’Agresta & Salzman (when it was known as Brown, Garganese, and so on), at $150 an hour. That year, the city spent $554,000 in total legal fees. This year, the city has a city attorney budget of almost $700,000.
In November, Neysa Borkert, who had become the day-to-day city attorney, announced to the council that her firm would be ending its services for the city, giving it what time it needed to find a replacement.
Douglas Law was one of four firms to respond to a request for proposal. Marcus Duffy, a graduate of Flagler Palm Coast High School, will be the principal city attorney. Jeremiah Blocker or Carol Simpson will sit in his absence.
The firm expects to do about $30,000 worth of work each month. “We don’t anticipate going over that,” Blocker told the council. The retainer, totaling $360,000 a year, covers the work of attorneys and paralegals.
Those proceedings would be billed at $250 an hour, and $100 an hour for paralegal work. “These matters include proceedings before state and federal courts, administrative law judges, hearing officers, arbitration, mediation, EEOC, or other dispute resolution proceedings. Automobile travel to and from any proceeding outside Flagler County will be reimbursed at the IRS rate,” the contract reads.
That concerned Council member Theresa Pontieri, who is also an attorney. “We are reopening our comp plan and we are expanding west so we are going to have some significant real estate transactions come up,” she said. Numerous real estate transactions are template-based or routine. “Where do we draw the line? What is considered a significant real estate deal and what’s not?”
Blocker, reassured: the routine is included in the contract. Complications will require consultation with the council “out in the open in front of the public,” he said.
The city could possibly pay for some of the firm’s continuing legal education if unusual legal issues arise, as long as they are specific to the city.
The council also approved a transition plan between Garganese and Douglas. For the duration of Garganese’s tenure, just two attorneys sat with the City Council: Bill Reischmann and Neysa Borkert, Reischman for most of that time. Other firm attorneys, such as Catherine Reischmann, Debra Babb-Nutcher and Jennifer Nix, have represented the city on advisory boards and in administrative proceedings, whether the planning or code enforcement boards or dangerous dog hearings and the like.
Catherine Reischmann shepherded the planning board and the council as recently as this week through the rewritten sign ordinance that her husband nine years ago told the council had to be rewritten in accordance with a Supreme Court decision. The council approved the new ordinance on second reading Tuesday evening, making it effective and closing the book on Reischmann’s work.
On Tuesday, Anthony Garganese sat at the dais. “This decision was made after a careful assessment of our Firm’s evolving needs to our clientele and was extremely difficult for us to make,” he’d written the mayor last week of his firm’s decision to end the contract. “As we indicated, this decision is in no way a reflection of our dissatisfaction with our Firm’s long-standing relationship with the City and its officials, employees, citizens and stakeholders, who we greatly respect and appreciate.”
“I would also like to extend my tremendous gratitude,” Council member Nick Klufas, who is completing his eighth year on the council, told Garganese. “You are amazing people and you have given so much assistance not only to me, but other city council members who have come before us.” He welcomed the new firm, whose first day on the job was today.
Douglas Law Firm also has a pending response of interest with the Flagler County School Board, which was looking for an attorney of its own after firing its previous one. Douglas Law was one of two applicants there. It’s not clear where that process is at this point–even one of the school board members, when asked today, was unaware what had become of that process, especially since the district’s procurement person who’d handled the matter had found another job.
Robert Cuff says
I had the pleasure of working with both Catherine and Bill Reischmann over several years of Planning Board and City Council. They are both consummate professionals who represented the City of Palm Coast with knowledge and grace.
TR says
I guess I should contact them (before I go in front of the city council with a 3 minute comment for everyone else to hear) to make sure they are aware of one thing the city code enforcement department is doing illegally. I have the proof in writing. I’m wondering why if the city is doing everything legally to run the city, why they need a law firm for 30K a month as a retainer. The Mayor and council members need to realize they were elected by the residence of PC which means they work for us. We are their bosses and I say (actually repeat from another resident) We need a forensic audit! If the mayor and council have nothing to hide, then why don’t they want one. they use the excuse it costs to much, but yet they will waste three time the cost on other things to push their personal agenda.
Tammany Hall says
The best at side stepping the issues. Goodbye