The Malibu City Council voted 3 to 2 to terminate City Attorney Steven Amerikaner’s contract and replace him with Christi Hogin, current interim city manager, in a special meeting early Monday morning .
This unusually quick governmental move, which was only placed on an agenda on Friday afternoon, produced three actions by the council:
- The law firm Jenkins & Hogin was selected to provided the city’s legal services. The firm is owned by Michael Jenkins (Christi Hogin’s husband) and Hogin.
- Interim City Manager Christi Hogin’s contract is extended until June 1, when she will take the position of city attorney.
- A new assistant city manager position was created.
The 3-2 vote, separated Councilmembers Sharon Barov-sky, Jeff Jennings and Ken Kearsley from Mayor Tom Hasse and Mayor Pro Tem Joan House, both of whom were not pleased with the process taken in the sudden decision.
The short notification process also created discontentment in the ranks of the opposition, specifically among supporters of the old Carolyn Van Horn/Walt Keller council.
“The short notice and the coincidental proximity of the weekend when City Hall is closed makes it difficult, if not impossible to get information on the subjects and be able to express intelligent views prior to the actual meeting,” said Efrom Fader, president of the Malibu Township Council, in a letter addressed to the council.
“They acted pretty fast,” said Art London. “I question from a public viewpoint how people can go to a meeting like that.
“You’re dealing with two major office holders and it is decided without public input,” he said.
The councilmembers who supported the actions defended the process, indicating that personnel matters were discussed in closed session three times before and the decisions needed to be made quickly since the interim city manager contract expired on March 21.
“Occasionally you have to put politics aside and vote for what you think is the right thing and pray that it’s right,” said Councilmember Barovsky, about the actions taken on Monday.
The decision to switch the city’s law firm from Hatch & Parent to Jenkins & Hogin, thereby assigning Hogin as the new city attorney, was a cost-saving measure for the city, said Kearsley.
“The city is bleeding money for legal services. The costs have gone up 50 percent because the last council voted a very capable but costly attorney,” said Kearsley, who is a businessman.
“I don’t know what information they are relying on because I never got that information,” said Mayor Hasse.
“Instead, they awarded a rather lucrative contract to the law firm of Hogin & Jenkins without a competitive bid.”
However, according to Jennings’ figures, the first year with Hogin as city attorney will save up to half a million dollars in legal fees.
“I have no doubt it will end up being a much more economical arrangement than what we have now,” said Jennings, in support of the actions.
“On top of that, Hogin is almost finished writing the LCP [Local Coastal Plan]. We had a bid to do that work for $150,000 and she did it as part of her job for the city,” said Kearsley.
“What’s the rush?” asked Hasse. “To award a $216,000 yearly contract which covers legal services only, not legal cases that will cost an extra $195 per hour if a case goes to litigation on top of the legal services fee?
“The bottom line to me,” said Hasse, “is that I was not given information that supports that agreement. If Hogin & Jenkins believe they can provide services for less then Hatch & Parent, then we should get an RFP [Request For Proposal] and compare with other firms.”
The mayor is not happy about the short notification process for the special meeting, either.
“It’s a very bad way to run a city government,” he said.
House supported extending the interim city manager’s contract until June, but she did not support the other actions.
“There was no staff report, no financial comparison,” said House. “The legality of the whole situation was not assessed.
“In view of the fact that they creamed lobbyist Jim Dantona and they had a lot to say about other contracts, there was no information on this,” she added.
Moreover, Hasse feels that the sudden termination was not fair to Amerikaner, who was not given an opportunity to compete.
“He was not given a chance. He was there for less than a year and though his evaluation was good, there was a concern about the cost, but he was not given the chance to put cost in line,” said Hasse.
Additionally, Hasse opposes the creation of a new position, “because it’s not the interim city manager’s job to find her replacement, it’s the council’s job.
“She has created a position that will eventually become the city manager when she leaves, and she will recommend to us who takes the job.”
The council should put a notice in a professional journal and find somebody that way, explained Hasse.
“All other cities do this all the time,” he said.
The position of assistant city manager was created with hopes of keeping City Hall running smoothly during the transition period until the city decides on a permanent city manager, said councilmembers.
“One thing we all know about Christi [Hogin],” said Jennings, “she will get the work done. I have no doubt it will end up being a much more economical arrangement than what we have now.
“Hogin will handle most of the attorney work and Michael [Jenkins] will provide backup. He is one of the most prominent attorneys in this field.”