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Council debates hiring in-house city attorney and restoring purchasing agent position
Summary
Council members and staff discussed a proposal to create an in-house city attorney position, while others urged restoring a previously removed purchasing-agent job; debate focused on expected workload, billable hours from outside counsel and administrative support needs rather than a formal decision.
Council members discussed whether to add an in-house city attorney to the FY2025–26 budget and separately whether to restore a purchasing-agent position that had been removed from the mayor’s proposed budget.
Several council members argued an in-house attorney would provide immediate, on-site counsel for city operations, FOIA requests and meeting needs and could reduce reliance on outside firms. Supporters said an in-house attorney would not eliminate the city’s contract with Olson & Olson (the current outside counsel) but would reduce billable outside work. Other council members raised concerns about costs, administrative support needs (paralegals, secretarial staff), office space and whether one attorney could replace the capacity of a multi-attorney outside firm; the transcript records back-and-forth about Olson & Olson’s historical role and about the legal workload that arises from litigation and council decisions.
Separately, department heads and council members asked why the mayor had removed a purchasing agent position; several department heads said a purchasing agent would free department staff to work on core duties and help centralize bidding and local vendor use. The city’s existing purchasing staff confirmed departments had previously requested that support.
Council did not make a final decision on either item during the workshop. Members asked staff to bring more detailed staffing, space and cost estimates for a city attorney and to reconsider whether the purchasing-agent role can be restored in the balanced budget.
Ending: Council directed staff to prepare cost estimates and implementation plans for both the potential in-house city attorney (including administrative support and space needs) and the purchasing agent for review at a later meeting.
