Council debates rules for councilor contact with city attorney; work session requested

Councilors spent a lengthy portion of the Sept. 9 meeting discussing proposed language to allow councilors to contact the city attorney directly in certain circumstances.

Staff framed the item as proposed changes to the council rules that would permit limited direct contact. Councilors and counsel discussed billing mechanics (city counsel said time is billed in tenths of an hour, i.e., six-minute increments) and whether travel/time charges apply when an attorney appears in person or by Zoom. One councilor asked whether a five-minute question would be billed as an hour; counsel and staff clarified that billing uses standard increments and that the firm’s travel or drive-time policy may apply.

Discussion also focused on boundaries: staff suggested a narrow carve-out for procedural questions (for instance, how to place an item on an agenda) while broader substantive or personnel matters might merit mayor or administrator involvement to avoid piecemeal legal direction from individual councilors. Councilors expressed concern about ensuring complaints about the city administrator or other supervised staff are not inappropriately handled outside full-council oversight. Several councilors asked staff to draft a more specific council-rule section addressing complaint flow and personnel-related contact, then return the proposal to a work session for thorough review.

Next steps: staff will draft a clearer carve-out or new council-rules section that defines permissible contact with the city attorney and clarifies billing expectations, complaint-handling steps and notice to the full council; the item will return to a work session for detailed review.