Baker council approves contract acknowledgement for outside counsel and moves to executive session on city attorney eligibility

The City Council of Baker on May 27 acknowledged a mayoral contract with Olin & Mercer LLC for professional legal services and voted to enter an executive session to consider the eligibility of the city attorney under the Baker Charter after recent litigation and voter-registration questions were raised.

Council members voted to place a resolution on the agenda acknowledging that Mayor Darnell Waits would execute a professional services contract with Henry Olin, attorney at law, of the firm Olin and Mercer LLC. The council then voted to adopt the resolution; the council called the roll by district and recorded affirmative votes from all four districts, and the motion carried.

The resolution states administration negotiated with Henry Olin and that he agreed to perform regular and routine services assigned by the city, including representation and monitoring of litigation to which the city is a party and providing legal advice to the mayor and council individually and collectively. Council members said a copy of the resolution would be included with the professional services contract and that a resume for Olin was available to the council.

During a brief public comment exchange, a resident from 13314 London Drive asked whether the contract would include a maximum fee. A speaker on the dais said the contract would be capped when finalized; the maximum cap was not specified at the meeting.

Council members also referenced an ongoing suit described as alleging an open-meetings violation by the city. The meeting record indicates the suit prompted the request for outside counsel to advise and represent the city. The council then moved to an executive session to deliberate on the eligibility of the city attorney, citing provisions of the Baker Charter. The council voted to enter executive session by district roll call; the motion carried unanimously. A council member who is the subject of the personnel matter said they would wait outside during executive session and be available if needed.

No formal employment or contract terms for Olin were discussed at length on the public record beyond the resolution language and the council's acknowledgement that a cap would be set when the contract is finalized. The council also said previously adopted actions were being nullified in response to the legal challenge, and that further deliberation in executive session would address eligibility and related personnel matters under the Baker Charter.

The council did not publish a cap amount, detailed fee schedule, or an implementation timeline for Olin's work during the public session.