Opinion - Taxpayers loss is Kronick Moskovitz Tiedemann & Girard's gain



Guest opinion by DJ Blutarsky |  

There's the issue of cost, but that cost should also buy competency as well. Not sure what criteria they use at City Hall to evaluate their legal staff, but from the outside looking in, this is how I see it. 

Bad Advice - City Attorney Jonathan Hobbs told City Council it would be okay to not go with low bidder. The low bidder, Downtown Ford, sued and won. Wonder what that advice cost us. Our loss is Kronick Moskovitz Tiedemann & Girard's gain.

Talking Up a Good Story - Feasibility study contract for waterpark/civic center was so full of holes, City lost over $600,000 when contractor failed to perform. City proudly proclaimed it was suing and only recovered a net of around $45,000, but after legal bills were paid the only about $6,000 was recovered I seem to recall. Our loss is Kronick's gain.

Rapid backpedal - City Attorney advised pushing the envelope on extending a ban on marijuana sales, despite statewide voter approval of Proposition 64. An interest group from SoCal threatened to sue, City backpedaled so fast it made our heads spin. Our loss is Kronick's gain.

District elections - More legal fees were probably spent on this issue than all other issues before it. Our loss is Kronick's gain.

Casino Royale - the City's legal team was roped into pushing to defend the casino project and had to farm out all that legal expertise. Our loss is Kronick's gain.

Non-Disclosure Agreements - For too many years, the City Council closed session agendas have been stacked solid with litigation. Most of the cases seem to magically disappear into thin air, presumably settled out of court with non-disclosure agreements.

There has been a push at the state level to require public agencies using tax dollars for settlements, to reveal the case details and amount paid. If Elk Grove were bound to this, can you imagine! 

Re-posted with permission from humorist DJ Blutarsky, a longtime Elk Grove political observer.  



Copyright by DJ Blutarsky © 2020. All right reserved.



 






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