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Aztec commissioners press for transparency as city attorney contract nears automatic renewal
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Summary
Commissioners discussed a near-term amendment to the city's four-year contract with Stelzner Winter after staff said the current term will expire within days; legal staff said the pending change is a one-page date/compensation amendment and will be circulated for review before any open-meeting action.
Chair (S1) opened the session’s first item by asking for a briefing on the city's attorney contract with Stelzner Winter, which staff reported is approaching expiry and may require an amendment.
Staff member (S2) told the commission that the city's contract with the law firm is up against a deadline and that no other firms responded to the recent RFP. “We have 3 days,” S2 said, urging the commission to consider a short renewal so the city is not left without attorney coverage.
Several commissioners sought visibility into what would change if the amendment is approved. One commissioner (S1) said the most recent contract had become more expensive than the original agreement; staff (S2) attributed the rise to criminal-workload costs that the firm had underbid previously, estimating that judicial work accounts for roughly 70—6% of the caseload.
Commissioners and staff debated whether a month-to-month extension would be feasible. An agency official (S6) explained operational constraints tied to court scheduling and assignment of prosecution matters and said a month-to-month arrangement would be impractical; a six-month or year-long interim term would be more workable.
Legal/administrative staff (S9) clarified that the amendment under discussion is largely administrative: it removes a temporary 2025 compensation provision and updates dates, extending the amendment period from 02/01/2026 to 02/01/2027. S9 said the original underlying agreement runs for four years beginning in February 2024, with contract language allowing annual continuations within that multi-year term. “It's a one-page amendment,” S9 said, and he offered to circulate a digital copy to commissioners for review.
Commissioners emphasized the need to act in open meeting and to avoid having the city manager or a single official sign the renewal administratively. Chair (S1) said any renewal should be handled in a public commission meeting or a properly noticed special meeting. Several commissioners said they were comfortable proceeding with the administrative amendment if nothing substantive had changed, provided the amendment is circulated in time for review.
Next steps: S9 will send the amendment and current contract language to commissioners for review; the commission will either address the amendment at the next regular meeting or call a special public meeting if required by timing.
