DANA POINT : Council Votes Raise for City’s Law Firm

The law firm of City Atty. Jerry Patterson was given a new contract this week that is expected to raise the city’s base legal fees by $550 a month.

The City Council voted 4 to 1 Tuesday to increase the hourly wage and retainer fee paid to the Costa Mesa-based firm of Burke, Williams and Sorensen. Patterson, a former congressman, is a member of the firm and most often acts as the city’s attorney.

The new contract pays the law firm a retainer of $95 an hour for the first 50 hours of work each month--or $4,750-- and $120 an hour for all time over that. Although Patterson does the majority of the work and attends most City Council meetings, 14 attorneys from the firm have represented the city in recent months, Patterson said.

“The council gave me very high ratings in terms of job performance,” Patterson said, adding that he believed the increase in pay “was a modest one.”

Councilman Eileen Krause applauded Patterson’s work.

“I’m very confident of Mr. Patterson’s performance and evaluate him highly,” Krause said.

Councilman Mike Eggers also backed Patterson, saying he has defended the city successfully. Last year Patterson successfully defended the city’s General Plan from a challenge by a local community group.

Councilman William L. Ossenmacher cast the dissenting vote, suggesting that the city explore hiring an in-house attorney or put the legal-services contract out to bid.

“I think what we need to do is look seriously at the alternatives,” Ossenmacher said. “I’m still not satisfied this procedure is the best.”

Ossenmacher handed out a memo that charted the costs of the city’s legal fees over the past several years and pointed out they have gone up from $91,000 for 1988-89 to $583,000 last year.

“I wasn’t really promoting we need a change, because we haven’t done the homework necessary to see if we need to make a change,” Ossenmacher said Wednesday. “I certainly don’t support any raise at this time. It isn’t very timely in terms of the way the economy has been.”

Councilwoman Karen Lloreda acknowledged that the city’s high legal fees are “kind of nauseating.” But those fees are beyond the city’s control, she added.

“People like to sue the city and every time they do it costs us money,” Lloreda said, adding that “$120 an hour is very, very low.”