CITY OF POMONA
COUNCIL REPORT
May 16, 2022
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: James Makshanoff, City Manager
Submitted By: Linda Matthews, Human Resources/Risk Management Director SUBJECT: AMENDMENT TO LEGAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH BEST BEST & KRIEGER LLP FOR CITY ATTORNEY SERVICES RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council take the following actions:
Approve the First Amendment to the Legal Services Agreement with Best Best & Krieger LLP for City Attorney Services, which will establish a set rate of $250 per hour for general municipal services provided by City Attorney Sonia Carvalho, effective July 1, 2022; and Authorize the Mayor to execute the First Amendment.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The City contracts with the law firm of Best Best & Krieger LLC (“BBK”) for City Attorney services, with Sonia Carvalho serving as City Attorney. The cost for legal services under the Agreement is based on hourly rate ranges established by types of legal services and level of staff. The proposed amendment (Attachment No. 1) will increase the hourly billing rate for general municipal legal services provided by City Attorney Carvalho from $213 to $250 per hour. BBK has agreed to forego the CPI increase in the current contract scheduled for July 1, 2022 in exchange for the adjustment in the City Attorney rate.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The proposed amendment to the hourly rate schedule is estimated to cost $21,200 annually, based upon historical hours. This cost will be included in the Fiscal Year 2022-23 Proposed General Fund Operating Budget.
PREVIOUS RELATED ACTION:
January 24, 2022 - the City Council conducted a performance evaluation of the legal services being provided by City Attorney Sonia Carvalho and expressed satisfaction with the level and quality of legal services being provided by the City Attorney and BBK.
August 4, 2019 - the City Council awarded a contract for City Attorney services to Best Best & Krieger LLP, with Sonia Carvalho serving as City Attorney.
DISCUSSION:
The City Attorney serves as the chief legal advisor to the Council, the City Manager, and all City departments and appointed bodies. Additionally, the City Attorney has the authority to represent the City in all civil and criminal matters and performs such other duties as prescribed by the City Charter, by ordinance or resolution, or as requested by the Council or City Manager. Pursuant to Section 703 of the Pomona City Charter, the City Council has the authority to appoint and remove the City Attorney.
In 2019, the City conducted a Request for Proposal (RFP) process for City Attorney services. On August 4, 2019, the City Council approved a legal services agreement with BBK. The agreement provides a fee structure comprised of different hourly rates for specific areas of law, by position/title and level of experience. The compensation set forth in the agreement provides for an annual CPI adjustment not to exceed 2.5%. This allows the rates to be increased based upon the change in the cost of living for the prior calendar year, as published by the U.S. Department of Labor in its All Urban Consumers Index for the Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim, CA . Any annual increase of over 2.5% would require City Council approval.
Consistent with the City Charter, the City Council conducted an annual review of the performance of City Attorney Sonia Carvalho in January 2022. This evaluation occurred during closed session on January 24, 2022 as permitted by law. As part of this process, BBK requested, through a third party (Linda Matthews, Human Resources/Risk Management Director), to negotiate a change to the fee structure of BBK’s Legal Services Agreement to establish an hourly rate of $250 for general municipal services provided by City Attorney Sonia Carvalho. This higher rate reflects the years of experience that Ms. Carvalho brings to the City Attorney role, which enables her to resolve problems more quickly and with less legal research by either her or lower level associates, thus providing more cost-efficient legal services. The City Council concurred with the requested change and directed staff to bring the change to open session for approval.
The current rates with inclusion of the added rate for General Counsel Services provided by Sonia Carvalho are as follows:
Services
Partners/of Counsel
Associate Attorneys
Paralegals
General Municipal Services performed by Sonia Carvalho
$250
General Municipal Services
$213
$213
$173
Public Records Act and ARC
$183
$183
$183
Code Enforcement
$239
$239
$152
Telecommunications
$335
$279
$163
Employee Benefits
$356
$279
$163
Litigation and other specialized legal services, based upon years of experience $250 - $381
$279
$163
If approved, the amendment will go into effect July 1, 2022.
Prepared by:
_____________________________
Debbie Wittenbrock
Legal Administrative Assistant
ATTACHMENT:
Attachment No. 1 – First Amendment to Agreement with Best Best & Krieger for City Attorney Services May 16, 2022 – First Amendment to Agreement with BBK for City Attorney Services