In a somewhat stunning move for a self-professed conservative, Dana Point Mayor Diane Harkey (and Republican candidate for 73rd Assembly District) has proposed on the City Council agenda tonight a 10% raise in the wages of the contract city attorneys, from $200 an hour to $220 an hour, and an automatic Consumer Price Index for inflation in their hourly wage every July 1 hereafter, regardless of performance by the attorneys.
We spoke with a city councilman today in neighboring Mission Viejo, who told us his city pays only $150 an hour for legal advice. This city councilman, who recently conducted interviews for law firms for Mission Viejo, said he had "never heard of an automatic CPI inflator in a contract for legal services."
Harkey, whose record really is in no way conservative, made her motion to increase attorney’s fees, and to allow for a mandatory annual increase in attorney wages regardless of performance, in a memo dated July 3, 2007 to the City Council. We understand though, that she has called in "sick" for tonight’s meeting in the meantime, and we are hopeful that sanity will prevail and her motion will be defeated by the rest of the council.
July 3rd, 2007 at 12:00 am
Update: The city council passed the 10% lawyers fee increase tonight, and also the automatic CPI increase regardless od performance, per Harkey’s memo, but a 4-0 vote, Harkey absent. It was stated at the public comment during the meeting that Harkey did not attend the meeting in order to avoid personal service of a recall petition.