On Local Government: “First…, kill all the lawyers”
“First…, kill all the lawyers.” Shakespeare had it right in “Henry VI.” No matter which way you turn, some lawyer is bilking a City by either charging too much for the simplest of opinions, providing overwrought advice or, particularly in the case of those cities dumb enough to elect these people, relying on people who are better at soliciting votes than performing the legal tasks they were allegedly hired to do. But, just as guilty in this madness are City Councils who kowtow to these supposed “legal eagles” because of fear that common sense just might not be enough of knowledge to make a reasoned decision. A recent article in the Los Angeles Times highlighted many of these buffooneries. For example, in the city of Upland, more than $1,000 was billed to determine how the Police Department should sell an impounded golf cart that garnered $100. The thrust of the article, however, was the differential between what richer and poorer cities paid for legal advice about a document in which they could not legally change a word. Yes, that’s correct. Nothing could be changed, yet cities hired a bunch of lawyers to tell them that not a word could be changed. Richer cities, like Mill Valley…
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