Ojai residents press council over city attorney advice and outside legal costs; some praise staffer Ben Harvey

On Feb. 25, residents used the public-comment period at an Ojai City Council meeting to question the city's legal representation and rising outside legal costs, while other speakers offered praise for city staffer Ben Harvey.

Speakers said the city has repeatedly hired outside counsel for matters they believe the city attorney should cover, and asked the council to disclose recent spending on private legal contracts. "My concern is the apparent inability of the current city attorney contract to cover certain situations of law fair, which end up requiring the city to contract out to an outside law firm," resident Bill Miley said. He asked the council for three pieces of information: "1, knowing the total dollar amount of private contract legal opinion since July 24 for this fiscal year; 2, knowing the total of the above for the previous year from July to June; and 3 ... knowing why the city attorney recommended such" contracts.

Robin Gerber, another resident, criticized the legal advice attributed to the city attorney, saying it has produced "manipulative lawyering" and invited undesirable outcomes. Gerber singled out a recent explanation of special-meeting authority she said was overly expansive, asserting Summers "went into a flight of legal imagination" when describing when council members may call special meetings. "That sounds lawyerly, but it's nonsense," Gerber said.

Other residents pointed to the financial effect of litigation and outside counsel. "We keep getting sued or having arguments ... it's just it's too much because it's taking away from everything else," resident Larry Steingold said, citing what he described as outside legal expenditures "like $80,000 here and 30 here and 20 there." Steingold said those costs divert funds from other priorities, including roads and homelessness services.

At the same time, several speakers offered positive comments about a city employee identified only as Ben. Resident Doug LaBarre told the council, "I think Ben's efforts have been stellar ... he has demonstrated a professionalism and a seriousness for the job that is unparalleled and I applaud it." Resident Christie Scott described Ben as "a breath of fresh air" who showed "reason, common sense, and patience," and said she wanted to "give my vote of confidence for the job he's doing."

The comments came during the public-comment portion opened before the council recessed into closed session to consider two closed-session items that were not described on the public record. Earlier in the meeting the council unanimously approved the agenda, and the body announced it would adjourn to closed session and intended to return at 6 p.m.

The council did not make any public decisions on the legal-contract questions during the open meeting; residents requested accounting and explanations about the use of outside counsel, and several speakers called for changes or greater scrutiny of legal advice and spending. The closed-session items and any subsequent council actions on those topics were not disclosed in the public portion of the meeting.