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 and Hermosa Beach, paid either nothing or next to it. While good old Upland paid $746 and South El Monte paid $3,625. The Times’ average cost of the “dozens” of cities queried came to $713.
A lot of the problem with municipal attorneys is not just the lack of oversight by City Councils. Many Council members think this is the responsibility of the City Manager. Many of them profess having no legal background, so they automatically defer to “the expert.”
The problem is that the primary responsibility of a City Council is the management of a City’s spending. But, they do not truly understand that document, and, often, are too embarrassed to say so.
Many people I speak with about my eight years on “the other side of the dais” are surprised when I tell them that, for the most part, no City Council can create revenue. (So many politicians claim such that they actually believe it.) Certainly, they can add or subtract a bit from the base level of income generated by taxes, fees and investment income. But, that delta is miniscule.
The primary place where a local government can control its finances is on the spending side. Much of a City’s revenue goes to salaries. In some case, that number is north of 90%. Therefore, the size for a City’s workforce primarily determines its fiscal viability. Also, this fact limits the importance that discretionary fiscal management can have on the success of a City to balance its budget.
Nevertheless, that delta can also determine whether a City will go bankrupt. It is primarily the loss of Council focus in this key area that has led to the recent events in San Bernardino and other California cities.
So, here’s my note to City Council members. You know better. Stupid things are just that. You don’t necessarily need to pay for a lawyer to tell you that it is.
Do your jobs.