BREA : City Denies Wiser a Separate Attorney

The City Council has turned down without a vote Councilwoman Kathryn E. Wiser’s request to have a lawyer other than the city attorney advise her on legal issues.

Council members said they could not support the request.

“It makes no financial sense, no management sense,” said Mayor burnie Dunlap during the discussion Tuesday.

Councilwoman Bev Perry said the council “should be represented by only one counsel, unless there is a legal conflict of interest.”

Wiser said she wanted an outside lawyer because she is not comfortable with the legal advice being provided to her by City Atty. James L. Markman. She said Markman is biased against her because of a lawsuit she filed against the city before she joined the council.

Wiser, who was elected in November, and her husband, Bud, sued the city in 1990 for allegedly canceling a building permit for a house they were planning to build on a lot they owned. The Wisers are trying to settle with the city, Bud Wiser said Wednesday.

Markman said he is giving Kathryn Wiser the “best legal advice I can.”