Cranston council approves amendment to engagement with city council attorney after debate over billing and disclosure

The Cranston City Council on Aug. 20 approved an amendment to the Feb. 7, 2025 letter of engagement with Stephen J. Angel of Angel Law LLC that sets a process for submitting hourly billing statements, including redaction rules and restricted access to unredacted time records.

The amendment addresses how invoices and time specifications for hourly work will be handled: billing statements are to be submitted by the Angel Law firm to the finance director, with redacted time specifications provided to council members; unredacted time specifications would remain with the firm and be available to council members by appointment in the presence of the council attorney. The amendment also clarifies that hourly billing under the engagement springs into effect only when litigation or a conflict with the administration requires Angel to act as litigation counsel rather than under the flat monthly fee.

The change was introduced for committee referral at a special council meeting and then considered and approved at a special meeting of the finance committee before the full council approved it later the same evening. Council discussion focused on three areas raised in the amendment and in subsequent debate: (1) the mechanics of who receives invoices and how they are redacted, (2)…