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Council approves Vernon & Weeks as city attorney after split vote
Summary
The Harrison City Council voted 4–2 to approve Vernon & Weeks as the city attorney despite questions about the prior Lake City Law contract and requests for conflict checks; John Gray and Charlie Shutt voted against the appointment.
The Harrison City Council approved Vernon & Weeks as the city's attorney in a 4–2 vote after council members raised questions about the city's earlier decision not to renew its contract with Lake City Law.
John Gray asked why the Lake City Law contract was not renewed; Josephine Prophet said the issue had already been addressed and was no longer open for discussion. Joe Cornell said the appointment should be contingent on an engagement letter and "assuring that the individual has no conflicts of interest regarding potential lawsuits," and moved to approve Vernon & Weeks on that basis. The motion passed with Charlie Shutt and John Gray voting no.
The vote was recorded as: Will Butler AYE; Josephine Prophet AYE; Joe Cornell AYE; Charlie Shutt NAY; Debbie Lockhart AYE; John Gray NAY. Council members did not produce additional public documentation of the conflict check during the meeting. The council also discussed conferring with counsel in executive session under Idaho Statutes 74-206(f).
The approval allows the firm to begin representing the city in routine matters; councilmembers said they expect an engagement letter and confirmation of conflict checks to follow. No formal engagement letter text or timeline was provided at the meeting.
