I believe that the city council's decision not to pay the full $350 per hour in charged legal fees was reasonable. This is frankly an excessive fee in the Twin Cities market. The decision to reduce payment by about 25% still comes out to about $260. This is still generous. The other officers investigated evidently found attorneys charging less than half that fee. $125 is at the very low end of the market, but there are plenty of amply qualified attorneys who would charge less than $260 per hour. There should not be an obligation by the city to pay any fee requested. If an a city employee needed to purchase a watch for her job, that would not mean she should expect to be reimbursed for a Rolex at list price. Even if the watch had to be purchased immediately, a more reasonably priced watch that could perform all necessary functions could be found. Frankly, a more reasonably priced lawyer could probably be found as easily. While Gerold's situation is sympathetic, the failure to negotiate a fee or the attorney's inflexibility on rates should not be the tax payers' problems at $350 per hour.
Jordan Kushner works downtown ----- Original Message ----- From: "Terrell Brown" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Minneapolis Issues Forum" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, October 30, 2004 7:49 PM Subject: [Mpls] Now: Fundraisers to pay bills the city should pay >From the Strib: Benefit to help deputy chief pay legal fees Howie Padilla, Star Tribune October 31, 2004 LUCY1031 Armed with a Greek vacation getaway, a motor scooter and a two-carat diamond tennis bracelet, a handful of supporters for Minneapolis Deputy Police Chief Lucy Gerold are on a mission to finish work they think city officials left undone. (article) http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5060082.html [TB] The Chief was reported to have said that he'd "take her out", he apparently wasn't happy that he was interested in the same job he was. He launches an investigation and she gets stuck with the bill. The Council should have done the right thing here, and they paid the entire legal fees for the 2 men who the Chief included in the investigation. Looks like the problems with the Police Department continue. Terrell Brown Loring Park REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
