By Andy Foltz
NKyTribune Correspondent
Questions were asked, speeches were made, but at the end of Erlanger’s city council meeting Tuesday night, compromise was reached with a message of moving forward with city business.
In a 6-5 vote, council approved three contracts that make Jack Gatlin City Attorney, Frank Wichmann the City Council attorney, advising council on legal matters, and leave the law firm of Wichmann and Associates in charge of code and lien enforcement for the city.
“I know the first four to six weeks I’ve been involved with the city have been unusual, but that’s democracy,” Gatlin said when introduced to council. “If Mr. Wichmann and I didn’t think we could work together, we wouldn’t have entered into this agreement.”
“I am confident these contracts are for the benefit of the city moving forward,” said Wichmann. “It is the best resolution of an unusual situation. The mayor needs an attorney he is confident in. He’s not confident in me, I accept that. By the same token, city council needs an attorney they have confidence in.”
There was some debate about the issue before it passed, and while spirited it was much less contentious than the discussion at last month’s meeting.
One of the bigger points of debate was how to evaluate the dual attorney positions. The positions are contracted, which makes them at-will and eligible to be terminated at any time. The position of city attorney is now subject to the mayor’s discretion, and city council attorney to city council’s.
Erlanger Mayor Tyson Hermes, who along with Gatlin, Wichmann, and city councilman Randy Blankenship worked out the details of the compromise, said he feels good moving forward.
“It has been done with the understanding this is something council wants,” he said during the meeting.
As reported in the NKyTribune story yesterday, a key part of the compromise is to cap what each firm is eligible to be paid by the city, with no more than $45,000 annually to be paid to either firm.
Councilwoman Kathy Cahill objected to that, saying the city attorney would probably be doing more work and therefore should get paid more. She told council that she had contacted the Kentucky League of Cities, and they informed her that no other city in the Commonwealth had two attorneys on retainer.
“We like to be on the cusp of doing things first, but I’m not sure this is something we want to be first in,” she said.
The six members of council who voted for the measure were Blankenship, John Dunhoft, Vicki Kyle, Tom Cahill, Corine Pitts, and Patty Suedkamp. The five voting against were Gary Meyer, Bill Howard, Kathy Cahill, and Renee and Don Skidmore. Councilman Kevin Burke was absent.
After the vote was taken, Erlanger resident Georgette Nordloh addressed council and asked for specifics of the costs of carrying two attorneys. If both attorneys bill the city for $45,000 that will come to less than what the city has been billed in the past for attorney services she was told. This did not include the collection fees, which Mayor Hermes told her the city doesn’t pay.
“Wichmann and Associates do all the work up front and don’t charge the city until the city is paid,” he explained. “So it’s not out of the city’s pocket. The violator pays that fee.”
For more details, see this NKyTribune story.