Ione council adopts resolution to route council legal questions through city manager amid heated debate

The Ione City Council adopted a resolution on Tuesday tightening rules for when and how councilmembers may contact the city attorney, voting to require most requests and inquiries to be routed through the city manager or designated department directors.

Council sponsors said the change formalizes existing municipal-code practices and is intended to reduce duplicated attorney work and lower legal costs. "Once you make an agenda item request, it's on staff to help implement that agenda item," the city attorney said in explanation of how staff and the attorney collaborate on drafts.

Opponents called the proposal overly restrictive and politically motivated. One councilmember described the measure as "a really bad idea" and said it would slow routine city business and limit elected officials' ability to obtain legal advice. Supporters pointed to months of high legal expenses tied to litigation, contract work and past projects and said greater central coordination could stop duplicate or unnecessary legal work.

Public commenters were split: some urged the council to respect prior discussion that had called for a committee to address legal spending, while others said the city should try the policy and rescind it if it proves ineffective.

A motion to adopt the resolution was moved and seconded; the measure passed with two council members voting no. The resolution instructs that non-urgent council legal questions should be routed through the city manager and department directors, but it preserves communications for declared litigants and other limited exceptions described in the text of the policy.

Councilmembers said they will monitor whether the policy reduces billable attorney hours and may return with amendments or committee recommendations in coming meetings.