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Fountain Valley council debates attorney billing, credit‑card oversight and manager signing authority
Summary
Council members pressed for clearer reporting after staff showed council travel and supply totals and noted one member’s use of city attorney time far outpaced others; Finance Director and City Attorney said invoice tracking limits precise per‑member allocations; council asked staff to return with more detailed actuals and an evaluation of P‑card counts.
Finance Director Ryan Smith told the council during a Feb. 17 study session that city council travel expenditures totaled $19,403 in fiscal year 2024–25 and about $7,600 year‑to‑date for 2025–26, and that council supplies were about $4,004.69 in FY24‑25 and $2,205 year‑to‑date.
The presentation prompted a broader debate about legal fees and procurement oversight after a council member said one colleague’s attorney billing — shown in the materials as roughly $52,000 — was about 150% more than the rest of the council combined. The member described heavy communication between that council member and the city attorney as “a distraction to staff.”
City Attorney Burns and Finance Director Smith said the city’s billing practice tracks attorney time in blocks that can include multiple matters, making it difficult to assign an exact dollar figure to each council member. Smith told the council the city’s timekeeping produces tickets that can cover multiple tasks and staff, so a name search pulls the whole ticket rather than a dollar‑for‑dollar allocation.
Councilmember Bowie defended consulting with the city attorney when the matter relates to official city business. “As long that the issues that I’m spending time with the city is not conducting suited to city business … I’m entitled to all those time span,” he said.
The council also debated the number of city purchasing cards (P‑cards). One council member noted the city has 92 P‑cards across about 310 employees — roughly 30% of staff — and asked staff to evaluate whether that many cards are necessary. Finance Director Smith said monthly statements are reviewed, receipts are attached to transactions, and staff have not found instances of fraud; occasional personal charges have been reimbursed by employees.
On contract authority, Smith reviewed a Municipal Code threshold that lets the city manager sign contracts up to $50,000 and said staff can add a column showing actual expenditures alongside contract values. Councilmembers asked staff to pull historic actuals for FY24‑25 and FY25‑26 to add clarity to the report.
Councilmembers directed staff to return with proposed clarifications: a richer attorney‑billing breakdown if technically feasible, an evaluation of P‑card issuance, and an “actuals” column for contracts signed under the city manager’s authority. No formal policy to cap individual councilmembers’ use of attorney time was adopted that night; several councilmembers requested staff study a potential limit and a requirement that excess attorney spending receive majority council approval before being incurred.
The council did not take any disciplinary action or make changes to billing practices at the Feb. 17 meeting; staff said follow‑up reports would be presented in a future agenda packet.
