Mantello just released on Facebook a shortened version of a letter she sent to Mayor Lou Rosamilia and the nine members of the City Council:
"We are all aware the City of Troy is facing a very difficult budget situation for 2015 and beyond. I am recommending, in order to reduce expenditures, the City put a freeze on any legal consultant services effective January 1, 2015. In the years 2012, 2013 and to date in 2014, the City has spent $629,425 for such consultant services. I believe an unnecessary expenditure and such services can easily be done in-house.
"In particular, in the 2015 budget $297,450 is allocated for the Corporation Counsel’s office. This includes seven staff personnel, six of which are attorneys. Therefore, the legal city staff has the ability to perform the same services as the outside consultants. ... "Mantello has a point -- the point being the matter certainly is worth discussing. Is she correct? That depends on what the discussion reveals.
As someone with long experience creating and managing multi-million-dollar budgets, I've always been cautious about too quickly assuming something is bad simply because it has large numbers attached to it. But, breaking it down by Mantello's figures, we have shelled out a monthly expenditure of $18,000 for outside legal help during the 35-month period she cites.
Now, that is a big number I don't like.
And, because politicians don't put dollars in a budget and then not use them, the cost to taxpayers will grow even larger in 2015. Result: Add that $18,000 per month to the nearly $24,800 the City has budgeted for its in-house legal office and we're up to $42,800 -- per month!
I regard that as an obscene number, especially in a city of fewer than 50,000 residents.
To be fair, doing away with outside legal services isn't always possible in a municipal setting. There often are legitimate circumstances in which legal work by non-employee, unaffiliated people is necessary. However, a moratorium on using them for a specified period appears advisable.
Such a moratorium would be a period in which the Rosamilia administration and the Council would be tasked with critically analyzing the perceived need on an instance-by-instance basis. And, by the same token, a time in which the people of Troy would be able to critically analyze the decisions their elected officials are making, and shape their votes accordingly.
Peter G. Pollak writes (via Facebook):
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your new beat!
Carmella R. Mantello writes (via Facebook):
ReplyDeleteThx Bill Dowd!! We'll keep up the fight!
Amy O'Connor writes (via Facebook):
ReplyDeleteGuys, with all due respect, you can't really be arguing that the Corp Counsel's office (at current staffing levels) can handle all city litigation. Do you know how time consuming civil rights litigation is, particularly in the federal courts? Most of the charges you're looking at are for litigation arising out of the previous administration. It doesn't matter whether they have merit or not, they have to be defended, and they can go on for years. Go ahead and cut; all you're doing is making it easier to sue the city and increasing the likelihood of large payouts, higher self-insured retentions and bigger premiums. Penny wise, pound foolish.
Amy O'Connor writes (via Facebook):
ReplyDeleteFull disclosure: my husband's firm is one of the outside consultants for the city (and the county) and has been for many years.
Carmella R. Mantello writes (via Facebook):
ReplyDeleteAmy, while I often respect your opinion, I must strongly disagree w/ your position in the use of outside legal counsels for the city of Troy. As a taxpayer of Troy, I understand the difficult fiscal situation Troy is now facing. Therefore I would submit that cuts must be made in every area except those of public safety. I think your judgment may be a bit clouded on this matter due to the fact that your hubby's law firm received over $74k as outside legal consultants in the matter of The former PBA Prez. The case was settled for $85k. Sorry but the city could've settled it for that amount. Not sure if you're aware of the fact that Troy atty Don Shanley served as a part time Dep Corp Counsel for a good number of yrs and represented the city in numerous federal civil rights cases. The Corp Counsel's office had and has ample staff and time to handle virtually every case the city is faced with ...
Amy O'Connor writes (via Facebook):
ReplyDeleteDon Shanley! He was a legend. I have some great stories. He didn't have many civil rights cases. In fact he lost his first (and possibly only) civil rights trial to my husband. I ALWAYS respect your opinion (not just often, lol) and I appreciate that you're a taxpayer, but you're not a trial lawyer, so I don't think you understand the work involved. You wouldn't know how the law and procedure has changed. Civil rights litigation is exponentially more complex and hyper-specialized now than it was when Don was practicing. (Plus I think you know Don put in 200% more than he got paid for. That's why he's legendary!) The insurance scheme is different, too. I don't want to bore folks with details of the SIR-insurer interplay, but basically the city's insurance company-- not the city-- chooses the lawyers to defend these cases. In exchange for very low premiums, the city has a high self-insured retention. That means they pay the first $100K of expenses before the insurance kicks in. If you take away the insurance company's ability to choose an experienced, specialized civil rights attorney, and say hey, we're going to use our general-municipal corp counsel for everything, the insurer is going to jack up the SIR or raise premiums. Probably both. And you can't really fix it by hiring. You'll have a very hard time finding a seasoned civil rights trial lawyer to leave the private sector for a municipal salary. I'd love to be wrong, but I don't think I am. That said, if some of these outside firm billings include smaller, rote matters like slip and falls, I'm on board and I agree with you. Those can be handled in house and it's something to look at.
Carmella R. Mantello writes (via Facebook):
ReplyDeleteHave a gr8 night Amy (my pal) but the fact are the facts ... We need to keep Troy taxpayers first, and not trial lawyers wealthy. If our folks in house can't do it start hiring folks in house who can!
Amy, I don't believe I said in-house counsel can handle ALL of the city's legal chores. I clearly suggested a moratorium on outside legal counseling for a specific period to enable city government to take a more analytical look at the skyrocketing expenditures. Too many expenditures become part of the financial mix when no one challenges them.
ReplyDeleteI so dislike it when people deliberately misinterpret something someone says, then proceed to respond as if the misinterpretation were reality.
ReplyDeleteThere needs to be a thorough review of each legal action along with an analysis of how much it has cost the City, it's merits and likelihood of settlement. The average taxpayer has no clue how much the City continues to spend on these suits. Do some digging. It's not obscene, it's beyond obscene.
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