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The Fredericksburg City Council voted unanimously last night to appropriate $100,000 to pay for five council members' defense in a recent freedom-of-information lawsuit.
City Attorney Jim Pates hired two outside attorneys to represent the council members after recusing himself from the case. The money appropriated last night will come out of the city's surplus, because Pates' annual budget includes only $25,000 for outside legal services.
Pates told the council he received the final bill this week from Washington attorney Howard Stahl, who Mayor Bill Beck and Councilmen Scott Howson, Tom Fortune and Matt Kelly chose to represent them. The bill was for nearly $75,000, bringing the total charged by Stahl's firm to $131,000, Pates said.
"My gosh. That's astounding," Councilman Joe Wilson said upon hearing that figure.
Wilson asked if the council needed to appropriate more money to cover the bill. Pates said he would talk to the council later about that issue--as well as the possibility of negotiating with Stahl's firm to lower the bill.
Fortune agreed that the fees "bordered on the obscene," but said he thinks it's important for council members to receive the best defense possible.
"I feel that, yes, it's a lot of money, but we absolutely need to have a vigorous defense for any seven of us around this horseshoe," he said.
Councilman Hashmel Turner said the council needs to set a limit on allowable fees for outside attorneys. Stahl charged $500 per hour.
"We've got to curtail it somehow, or the taxpayers, and I don't blame them, will be storming the chambers," Turner said.
Wilson said last week that he supported enacting formal guidelines for hiring outside attorneys, but the council did not discuss the matter last night.
The city attorney said the final bill from Fredericksburg attorney William Sokol, who Withers chose to represent him, totaled $18,690. His hourly rate was $200.
The five council members were sued by former Vice Mayor Gordon Shelton and two other city residents for 18 counts of alleged "secret" meetings via e-mail and in person. The plaintiffs claimed that the five deliberately excluded the public, Wilson and Turner from their discussions of city business.
In a December trial, Circuit Judge John W. Scott Jr. ruled that Beck, Howson and Kelly violated Virginia's Freedom of Information Act on one count when they exchanged e-mails about the city's appointment to the regional library board. All other counts against them were dropped or dismissed, and all charges against Fortune and Withers were dismissed.
Beck said he, Howson and Kelly plan to appeal the judge's lone ruling against them. And he said he expects the city to pay those legal bills, too.
Shelton, one of the plaintiffs in the suit, declined to comment on whether the plaintiffs plan to appeal the judge's decision to fine them $8,000 for including two unsubstantiated claims in the suit. Shelton also refused to say who paid the plaintiffs' legal bills.
In other business last night, the council:
Authorized Acting City Manager Beverly Cameron to award a contract for the construction of the first phase of the Dixon Street recreation complex. The council voted unanimously to hire General Excavation Inc., whose bid was $3.4 million. The first phase of the 45-acre project will include infrastructure, athletic fields and improvements to Dixon Street to ease access to the park.
Directed Cameron to explore the creation of a hypothermia program for the city's homeless residents who do not meet requirements for admission to the Thurman Brisben Homeless Shelter. Wilson moved that Cameron should look into allowing the homeless to sleep in some city buildings, with supervision, on nights with freezing temperatures. He also asked the acting manager to coordinate with churches and the Save Our Shelter Coalition on the effort.