Council approves amended media and legal contracts after solicitor flags budget and form concerns

Council President Marino and the City Council approved two contracts for services to the council on Feb. 3, 2025, renewing a media-services agreement with Thomas Lima and engaging Angel Law LLC and Stephen J. Angel as council attorney and litigation counsel, after hours of committee and council debate over contract language and budget limits.

The finance committee and full council voted to approve the contracts after an amendment that corrected a scrivener's error in the Lima agreement's start date and added an explicit termination pathway. The City Solicitor told the committee he would "not approve this contract as to form," citing the charter and the council's limited budget authority.

Why it matters: The contracts govern how the council secures legal representation when its interests diverge from the administration and how it communicates meetings and related public information. The solicitor warned the council that, as written, the documents could obligate the city to payments beyond line items in the council's budget; proponents said the contracts preserve continuity and immediate access to counsel and services when urgent litigation or communications needs arise.

What the council approved

- Thomas Lima: The council approved an independent-contractor media-services agreement covering January 2025 through 2027 after amending the contract to correct a date error…