City-Paid Lawyers Sought

Some city officials have asked the Los Angeles city attorney’s office if the city could pay for private lawyers to represent them as federal and county investigators probe city contracting, officials said Tuesday.

As the City Council grapples with a budget plan that would slash key services -- from code enforcement to park maintenance -- next year, the prospect of shelling out hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fees makes many members nervous.

“It’s a point of concern ... particularly some of the [attorney] fees we’ve heard that are out there,” Chief Deputy City Atty. Terree Bowers told the council’s budget committee.

During the last four months, county and federal grand juries have subpoenaed thousands of pages in city contracting documents and summoned several top officials to testify, among them former Deputy Mayor Troy Edwards, the executive director of the city’s harbor department and the deputy executive director of the city airport agency.

Bowers told council members that seven to nine officials had informally asked his office about paying for outside counsel, but he did not say who they were.

He said his office was drafting guidelines on who would be eligible for reimbursement of attorney fees, but he stressed that the city would not be obligated to pay the fees if employees were convicted of wrongdoing.

Council members also heard Tuesday from the Cultural Affairs and Building and Safety departments’ general managers, who warned of steep service cuts under Mayor James K. Hahn’s proposed budget.