Local News in Brief : Cunliffe Vote Falls Short

The Los Angeles City Council was unable Friday to muster enough votes to approve a $25,000 contract to hire private attorneys to represent Sylvia Cunliffe in a pending invasion-of-privacy suit against her and the city.

With five members absent, the council voted 7 to 3 to approve the maximum payment in legal fees to a private law firm, Bayne and Hartley. At least eight votes were necessary.

The law firm has also represented Cunliffe during recent settlement talks in which she agreed to retire as head of the General Services Department.

Assistant City Atty. Frederick Merkin said that because Cunliffe provided controversial information about whistle-blower Robert O’Neill to Mayor Tom Bradley and the City Council while serving as a department head, she was entitled to representation at city expense. O’Neill has filed a lawsuit alleging defamation and invasion of privacy against Cunliffe and the city.

In an attempt to strip the city of any obligation to pay for Cunliffe’s defense, Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky tried to win backing for a motion that Cunliffe had acted “outside the scope” of her official duties when she distributed the O’Neill memo. But that proposal also fell one vote short.

Merkin said attempts are being made to work out a resolution of the Cunliffe attorney question. He would not speculate, however, on whether Friday’s vote will have any impact on the earlier approved retirement deal, which has not yet been signed by Cunliffe.