The Storm Lake City Council this week on a 3-2 vote selected a new City Attorney.
The council chose the Ahlers and Cooney Law Firm based out of Des Moines to represent the city in place of the retiring Phil Havens. The Crary Huff Law Firm out of Sioux City also interviewed for the position. The motion to hire Ahlers and Cooney was made by council member Maggie Martinez…
The motion was seconded by council member Matt Ricklefs. Council member Kevin McKinney said he felt more comfortable with the Crary Huff group…
Council member Tyson Rice wanted to know the rates each of the firms would charge before making a decision. City Manager Keri Navratil said standard procedure is to make a selection based on qualifications, and then negotiate rates with the chosen firm. Rice also cited the higher hourly rate percentage that Ahlers and Cooney would charge the city for them to attend a council meeting…
Rice also expressed concern about Ahlers not being able to represent the city in future dealings with the county since Ahlers represents them as well. No one replied when Rice brought up that subject.
Ricklefs then wanted to table the item to gather more information, but a motion and a second had already been made for the selection. Martinez, Ricklefs, and council member Maria Ramos voted in favor, while McKinney and Rice were opposed.
