MONROE - When the Monroe Common Council meets Wednesday to discuss creating a new administrative position at City Hall, placing city attorney responsibilities in the job description will be discussed.
Thus far, most of the talk has been of emphasizing human resource functions in a scaling back of the administrator position that has been vacant since May 2008. There also has been discussion about refilling the administrator position, and of not hiring anyone new at all.
The agenda for Wednesday's 6 p.m. meeting at City Hall adds city legal functions to the mix.
The agenda calls for discussion about the possibility of combining the city administrator and city attorney functions, "along with gaining input and interest level from current city attorney" Rex Ewald.
City Clerk Carol Stamm would not say who placed the expanded discussion on the agenda.
Ewald told the Times on Monday that he was aware of the meeting and had spoken to Stamm about the wording of the agenda. That, he said, would be the extent of his public comment prior to the meeting.
Ewald said he has not yet prepared his comments to council members for Wednesday's meeting.
"I have a lot of thinking to do yet, to help the council work through it," he said.
The equation for the position council members would have to come up with is a "question of skills and hours," Ewald said.
The meeting originally was set to discuss the job description of a position for a human resources person with added responsibilities in economic development and financial oversight, as proposed by Alderman Mark Coplien.
The new administrative position should be heavy with human resource responsibilities, said Coplien, chairman of the Salary and Personnel Committee, during a July 21 meeting.
Or it could be a job with heavier emphasis on economic development, as Alderman Paul Hannes thinks it should be.
Department heads informed council members by memo July 20 that a full-time administrator with previous municipal experience would be best for the city if aldermen are going to move forward with hiring someone.
Ewald briefly discussed with the Times the work of a city attorney, a job for which he has been retained by the city since 1988. The city does not pay Ewald a retainer fee, but is billed by the hour for each project or service.
"A variety of situations fall ... under the administrator being supported by the city attorney," he said.
In one example, Ewald explained that when an administrator is approached by a department head for help and determines the situation involves a legal aspect, he then contacts the city attorney, who does the legal research and informs the administrator. The administrator in turn advises the department head.
With a combined city administrator/attorney, the extended "communication chain goes away," and "efficiency is most readily realized," he said.
However, if the administrator is the city's attorney, other considerations arise, such as how, and whether, the city can be reimbursed for attorney fees for complex deals with large enterprises - like the large-scale retail planned unit developments packages with Walmart and Menards.
Those projects could be hired out to specialized attorneys.
A Times review earlier this year of bills submitted from Ewald's office to the city shows about 750 hours billed for work done with Walmart and Menards in 2007. Another 137 hours was spent on Walmart, and 40 hours on Menards for 2008.
If the city drives toward more large-scale economic development, it should expect more time used for PUDs and other planning.
"There is no way for the city to anticipate these types of situations," Ewald added.
Ewald's office billed the city for about 2,000 total hours in 2007, and 1,400 hours in 2008. Not all the cost for these hours were paid by the city. Some were rebilled to parties, large and small, that benefited from the work.
For city entities, such as the stormwater utility, wastewater treatment plant and Tax Increment Districts, the city often rebills attorney fees to those accounts.
The Monroe city attorney time in 2007 and 2008 went mainly toward prosecution of traffic and juvenile violations and toward general city business. Prosecution racked up 343 and 431 hours in 2007 and 2008, respectively. General government business tallied almost as much - 321 and 368 hours for the same two years.
The city pays between $42 and $150 an hour to Voegli, Ewald & Bartholf Law Offices for services, depending on who performs the work. Sometimes, other law firm's services are employed, with examples being the city's defense in the workplace discrimination case against former Administrator Mark Vahlsing, and for contract negotiations with city employees.
Thus far, most of the talk has been of emphasizing human resource functions in a scaling back of the administrator position that has been vacant since May 2008. There also has been discussion about refilling the administrator position, and of not hiring anyone new at all.
The agenda for Wednesday's 6 p.m. meeting at City Hall adds city legal functions to the mix.
The agenda calls for discussion about the possibility of combining the city administrator and city attorney functions, "along with gaining input and interest level from current city attorney" Rex Ewald.
City Clerk Carol Stamm would not say who placed the expanded discussion on the agenda.
Ewald told the Times on Monday that he was aware of the meeting and had spoken to Stamm about the wording of the agenda. That, he said, would be the extent of his public comment prior to the meeting.
Ewald said he has not yet prepared his comments to council members for Wednesday's meeting.
"I have a lot of thinking to do yet, to help the council work through it," he said.
The equation for the position council members would have to come up with is a "question of skills and hours," Ewald said.
The meeting originally was set to discuss the job description of a position for a human resources person with added responsibilities in economic development and financial oversight, as proposed by Alderman Mark Coplien.
The new administrative position should be heavy with human resource responsibilities, said Coplien, chairman of the Salary and Personnel Committee, during a July 21 meeting.
Or it could be a job with heavier emphasis on economic development, as Alderman Paul Hannes thinks it should be.
Department heads informed council members by memo July 20 that a full-time administrator with previous municipal experience would be best for the city if aldermen are going to move forward with hiring someone.
Ewald briefly discussed with the Times the work of a city attorney, a job for which he has been retained by the city since 1988. The city does not pay Ewald a retainer fee, but is billed by the hour for each project or service.
"A variety of situations fall ... under the administrator being supported by the city attorney," he said.
In one example, Ewald explained that when an administrator is approached by a department head for help and determines the situation involves a legal aspect, he then contacts the city attorney, who does the legal research and informs the administrator. The administrator in turn advises the department head.
With a combined city administrator/attorney, the extended "communication chain goes away," and "efficiency is most readily realized," he said.
However, if the administrator is the city's attorney, other considerations arise, such as how, and whether, the city can be reimbursed for attorney fees for complex deals with large enterprises - like the large-scale retail planned unit developments packages with Walmart and Menards.
Those projects could be hired out to specialized attorneys.
A Times review earlier this year of bills submitted from Ewald's office to the city shows about 750 hours billed for work done with Walmart and Menards in 2007. Another 137 hours was spent on Walmart, and 40 hours on Menards for 2008.
If the city drives toward more large-scale economic development, it should expect more time used for PUDs and other planning.
"There is no way for the city to anticipate these types of situations," Ewald added.
Ewald's office billed the city for about 2,000 total hours in 2007, and 1,400 hours in 2008. Not all the cost for these hours were paid by the city. Some were rebilled to parties, large and small, that benefited from the work.
For city entities, such as the stormwater utility, wastewater treatment plant and Tax Increment Districts, the city often rebills attorney fees to those accounts.
The Monroe city attorney time in 2007 and 2008 went mainly toward prosecution of traffic and juvenile violations and toward general city business. Prosecution racked up 343 and 431 hours in 2007 and 2008, respectively. General government business tallied almost as much - 321 and 368 hours for the same two years.
The city pays between $42 and $150 an hour to Voegli, Ewald & Bartholf Law Offices for services, depending on who performs the work. Sometimes, other law firm's services are employed, with examples being the city's defense in the workplace discrimination case against former Administrator Mark Vahlsing, and for contract negotiations with city employees.