Update 2/10/12: I have checked the Council’s meeting minutes. Although the threesome claimed they engaged Inslee Best on Debbi Lester’s mayoral authority, she was not mayor on the day the firm was hired (Jan. 5). She was elected mayor at the Council meeting on Jan. 11, when most of the firm’s work was already done. Although under our Council-Manager form of government, the mayor is ceremonial and has no more power than any other Council member, this debunks the threesome’s main argument that they acted lawfully.
In a remarkable display of inexperience, Council members Dave Ward, Debbi Lester (who is also taking a turn as mayor this year) and Steven Bonkowski engaged the law firm of Inslee Best in January for advice about their plan to fire City Manager Brenda Bauer, without informing the full Council or the City Attorney.
At last night’s Council meeting, Councilor Bob Scales revealed that according to an Inslee Best bill, Ward, who took office at the beginning of the year, contacted the firm on January 5 to discuss an employment agreement. By law, the City Council has authority over only one employee, the City Manager, and it became apparent during the ensuing discussion that the law firm was retained for advice about Bauer. Click here to read the bill: Inslee Best invoice.
After the Council began meeting in executive session on January 11 about Bauer’s employment, Scales, Ward and Bonkowski formed an ad hoc committee to negotiate the terms of her separation. Scales said he knew nothing about retaining outside counsel, for which the City Council has only a $1900 budget for all of 2012, until he received a separation agreement drafted by Rod Kaseguma, a partner in the firm. The ad hoc committee had been working with City Attorney Will Patton, who did not use any of the documents prepared by Inslee Best for the final agreement with Bauer.
Scales said individual members of Council have no authority to hire a lawyer and spend taxpayer dollars, without going through the City Attorney, who has the responsibility for managing the City’s legal matters and the legal budget.
Ward asserted that he contacted Inslee Best because Patton had a conflict of interest in the matter. The conflict arose, Ward said, because Patton is employed by Bauer. Scales emphasized that the City Attorney represents the City as an entity, not the Manager, the City Council or any individual in the organization.
He also said individual members of Council cannot make a determination about whether the City Attorney has a conflict. An attorney is under a professional obligation to identify conflicts of interest and disclose them to a client. Councilor Kirsten Hytopoulos objected to the implication that Patton would not meet his ethical responsibility in that regard. Scales added that where there is a question of conflict of interest, Council members should at least discuss their concerns with all members of the Council.
Looking uncomfortable, Bonkowski said he believed that Inslee Best was on retainer with the City and therefore thought it was appropriate to call on the firm, likening it to asking a City employee to work on a project. Hytopoulos observed that the Council cannot take any action except as a body, so a decision to hire outside counsel and spend the City’s money must be taken by a quorum of the Council.
Lester and Ward suggested that Lester’s position as mayor gave her the authority to hire Inslee Best, to which Bauer replied the retainer agreement with the firm had not been updated since the change of government, when the mayor was the City’s chief executive rather than the current titular position with no independent authority. Bauer emphasized that the Council must understand the fundamental concept that Council has to work as a body, not in groups of two or three.
Hytopoulos said she was stunned that Inslee Best had agreed to do the work because the firm should have known better than to accept work from individual Councilors. She added that the City should refuse to pay the bill, which amounted to $3553.50.
She was also disappointed that, according to details in the bill, Ward and Lester were in legal discussions about Bauer as far back as January 5, despite assurances to their Council colleagues at the January 8 retreat that they wanted to work openly and collaboratively on the matter of Bauer’s employment. “This really undermines the trust I hoped we were building,” she said.
At that retreat, all Council members discussed the need to develop performance standards for Bauer, and none mentioned an immediate intent to fire her. Despite that discussion, on January 9, Ward and Lester added an agenda item to the next Council meeting concerning “performance review.” The Inslee Best bill shows that on January 9th, Kaseguma had telephone calls with Ward and Lester and the firm worked on a “draft resolution.”
Saying they did not seem to understand the scope of their lawful authority, Scales urged that the Council unanimously agree on the hiring of an expert whose advice all members would find credible, to give them training on basic governance matters. Scales said it was imperative that everyone wholeheartedly agree on an expert they would listen to. Lester indicated she would work to find such an expert.
Ward moved that the Inslee Best be paid from the City’s legal budget. The motion failed to receive a second. On a motion by Hytopoulos, the Council decided the City would not pay the Inslee Best bill. Bonkowski joined Scales, Blair and Hytopoulos in the vote. Blossom, Lester and Ward voted against the motion.
It’s well worth a half hour to watch the meeting starting at the 2:12 mark. It’s a compelling lesson in the importance of knowing and respecting the law and the rules by which a government works. The link is here and here (depending on your software.)
I would like to suggest, strongly, that Mayor Lester and Councilman Ward resign. Now.
Hey your back!!!
Still owe you an email I started and never finish.
Is this where the deep voiced narrator comes on at the end of the video and says: ” …and the plot thickens.”
Be seeing you. – Dave Henry
It is time we disband the city. The cast of clowns that have been on the city council have hit a new low.
The legal fee needs to be paid by the three members who signed the contract. That is an a simple conclusion to reach
Dear “Anonymous”—I’m back from a two-year blogging hiatus, very hesitantly. It takes a lot of time from an already busy life. I have to focus on the most angst-ridden part of my community’s life. And I have to sort through comments like yours and decide whether to publish them.
As far as comments go, yours would be mild on some place like the Kitsap Sun. You repeatedly called everyone past and present at City Hall a “clown,” picking up the word used by the previous commenter (who, at least, put his name on it). You listed several instances of clownishness, all done before the current Council and administration were here. You added nothing to the conversation but your free-floating rage. It was a classic 2 a.m. comment, which is when you posted it.
I don’t like starting my day with someone else’s rage. I’m taking the time to write because I want to say clearly that I intend to be selective in the comments I publish and I’m not going to read arguments about it. Put your name on what you write and watch the name-calling.
Althea,
I appreciate you taking the time to comment instead of simply clicking “delete” on an opinion with which you disagree. I’m sorry you perceived it as “rage.” It was actually a very measured response and, as you pointed out, a deliberate highlighting of the previous poster’s antagonistic use of the word “clown.” Had it not been for Doug’s “rage,” I wouldn’t have bothered to write.
I am not looking to engage in an “argument” over your blog choices. It is your site and you have the right to post or edit as you wish. I do wish to explain to you and, hopefully, your readers.
First, I post as “Anonymous” because, as a life-long Island resident, I can tell you that, sadly, Bainbridge Islanders have a tendency to punish those whose opinions conflict with that of the (generally left-leaning) majority. Of course, matters aren’t helped by right wing reactionaries, either, but unless you are of the firmly liberal bent, there is definitely a “you’re either with us or against us” mentality. If one disagrees, one simply must keep their opinions to themselves here.
As to the facts, some of those issues I mentioned did involve people who are currently sitting on the Council. The city’s mismanagement of the Winslow project is ongoing. There are still people being physically hurt by the poorly designed sidewalks — and the city does nothing.
Your loyal (and civil) opposition,
Anonymous
Dear Anon—Thank you. I feel better now. It wasn’t your opinion that got me going, it was the way it was written (thin on substance, long on insult)—and before my morning coffee too. Your recent comment sounds perfectly reasonable and I agree with everything in it, except that I don’t know much about the problems with the sidewalks on Winslow Way.
Loyal and civil—if only we all opposed things that way!
It seems that the city is experiencing growing pains. One would hope that at some point in the city’s growth and development that awkwardness and clumsiness would be replaced by grace and poise. The citizens of Bainbridge were certainly ready for this level of maturity however our city council has shown otherwise. The much ballyhooed era of trust and cooperative governance has been launched with deceit and misconduct. I would agree that both Councilors Lester and Ward should resign immediately and I would also expect Council Member Bonkowski to likewise resign. Additionally, I would rescind City Manager Bauer’s termination and hope that some level of stability and mature, thoughtful, honest and transparent governance begin. The clock is ticking and time is running out.
I agree with the termination of the manager. For starters, from what I can glean, mistakes were made more than once and in more than one way by our manager. In addition, I don’t at all understand that with all of the considerable expertise and talent on the Island why someone was chosen who is not a resident. As for the attorney consult overreach, I absolutely don’t understand it. I really don’t understand the purpose, but it seems fairly elemental on its face that it would be improper and not in the spirit of a council working together. Secrecy is insidious. My opinions solely. Thank you for the forum.