The Corvallis City Attorney may not be present at all meetings

The conversation about how to make that happen took place at the council’s Thursday, Aug. 22, work session during a six-month check-in with attorneys who regularly represent the city.

In February, the council voted unanimously to go ahead with Portland law firm Beery, Elsner & Hammond LLP. The firm represents or has represented more than 100 city and county governments in the Pacific Northwest. Josh Soper and Emily Matasar lead as Corvallis city attorneys, and one of them attends meetings remotely.

Former City Attorney Jim Brewer and his deputy David Coulombe were paid up front with an advance, but the new city attorneys are paid by the hour.

This hindered the ability of councilors to rely on their attorneys as they used to – “anytime and often,” as Councilor Hyatt Lytle put it, or in what Councilor Tracy Yee called “all you can do”. – eat buffet.”

In approving the contract earlier this year, councilors raised eyebrows at the price and a method of holding it; pAfter the contract, communications between attorneys and councilors must be authorized by the city manager.

While assessing how the transition to the new firm was going last week, many advisors discussed no longer requesting a city attorney attendance at regular meetings. The idea was to create more time to use them elsewhere.

Mayor Maughan agreed: “I forget that anyone is listening at board meetings sometimes,” he said of Advocates online presence. Instead, Brewer regularly attended in-person meetings.

One way to do that, councilors said, is for city officials to look at the agenda before a meeting to determine if a topic requires of a lawyer present.

Councilor Jan Napack indicated certain types of public hearings as examples. She also acknowledged that with the upcoming elections this year, some councilors will not be familiar with the procedure, ad a lawyer could prevent “fatal errors”.

Maughan agreed that there will be instances during council meetings where an attorney would be more than necessary.

“I like knowing there is a resource available when and if I need it,” he said.

“Most of us have the experience — I feel pretty confident in my role as mayor — to be able to conduct meetings effectively and legally,” he said. “But every now and then, there are hiccups.”

Asked for input, Soper said most of his and Matasar’s clients have had them attend meetings “as needed,” similar to what Corvallis was proposing.

“This model seems to be working for most of our cities,” he said.

Oregon cities are taking different approaches to their need for attorneys at council meetings.

“Each city in Oregon has a unique relationship with its city attorney,” Robin Klein, deputy general counsel for the League of Oregon Cities, said via email. The organization serves as a lobbyist for Oregon cities in Salem and recommends best practices for municipalities.

The requirements to attend the public hearings therefore depend on the city of Corvallis’ charter and its contract with the law firm, Klein wrote.

Corvallis’ charter does not specify job requirements for its city attorney, only that the position is filled by the council, not the city manager who fills other positions.

How to determine what defines an “as needed” basis is up to the City Council, Soper said, though Matasar added that legal counsel can also review agendas before meetings.

Soper suggested a two-week notice period that an attorney’s presence would be helpful.

But Maughan said that will require rethinking how agenda-setting meetings are conducted. Agendas are usually drawn up and published a week or less before the meetings.

It’s often feasible to provide coverage when something comes up at the last minute, Soper added. In cases where the City Council has a legal question and can’t get an answer during the meeting because attorneys aren’t available, Maughan said, that issue can be tabled.

The catch to that, Napack pointed out, is that it relies on knowing when something is “wrong” and requires legal advice.

Further discussions with management will likely take place to work out details, as well as to determine what topics would trigger the need for an attorney to be present, Maughan said.

Other topics discussed during the transition check-in included the one-hour limit on direct contact between the mayor or aldermen and their legal counsel.

Soper wondered if the time limit is discouraging councilors from reaching out, as only two councilors have done so at this point and most months the 60 minutes are not used.

Maughan said the board is in the dark about the time limit statute.

“We don’t know where we are in those 60 minutes,” he said. “We don’t know what contact happened.”

The board proposed a system where the board president — currently Paul Shaffer — keeps track of the minutes to better manage time and remaining balance.

Soper added that the limit does not apply to the city manager. Therefore, City Manager Mark Shepard can bring questions from the council themselves to the attorneys without fear of wasting time.

And, Maughan said, with the city saving on billable hours during meetings, councilors could get more direct contact time with lawyers.