The City of Cedar Hills has spent a small fortune in questionable legal fees over the past 17 months totaling $160,000 in taxpayer money. The normal annual allocation has been $24,000.
An October 29th, Cedar Hills Citizens for Responsible Government filed a GRAMA request for an accounting of legal services and asked for “all billings since June 1, 2011 to date, for legal services…the service and cost per hour, details please.”
On November 13th, the City provided 50+ pages, but redacted most all the information leaving mostly blank pages, claiming “attorney client privilege”, and charged $58.
We have since appealed directly to the Utah State Records Committee for another Hearing that would if successful would require the City to provide ALL the information requested. We are likely to succeed because the Records Committee has three previous cases, almost identical to our request, that resulted in an ORDER requiring the government entity to provide the public records as requested. For example:
Utah State Records Decision 00-05
“10. …The Committee finds that the County’s classification of the following data elements in Mr. Dunbeck’s billing statements as protected was improper: (1) the name of the case, (2) the date of the invoice, (3) the date range for which the services were rendered, (4) the general description of services rendered (e.g. legal research, telephone call, etc.), excluding the precise object or subject matter of those general services, (5) the summary of hours of legal services rendered during the period covered by the invoice, and (6) the total amount billed during that period. ” (emphasis added)
Ironically, the reason for GRAMA requesting the billings was to learn if the city had properly or improperly used taxpayer dollars in legal fees, and the City appears intent to waste more money in legal fees to try to avoid providing the public copies of the public record. This was the case with the Secret Emails that the Records Committee ORDERED be gathered and provided to Cedar Hills Citizens for Responsible Government, and it will likely be the same if the City has to explain itself before the Records Committee again. Obeying the law would cost the City zero, and would be more reflective of “open, honest and transparent” government.
The City did not provide all the requested information we do now have the amounts which total over $160,000 in legal services, most of which could have been avoided had the city simply obeyed the law in the first place. Additionally, the advise was expensive, not just in the cost per hour (still unknown), but that much of the advise was ineffective in helping cthe City Council avoid mistakes of building a golf clubhouse / wedding reception center, rather than a Rec and Pool facility. This error cost $2.9 million in misspent funds, including the $190,000 settlement of the lawsuit by the Utah Valley Homebuilders Association for “illegal” use of the impact fees. Expensive legal fees? Doubly expensive.
Please note that Peter Stirba of Stirba & Associates was hired by the City to defend then Mayor Eric Richardson & City Manager Konrad Hildebrandt against an Judge James Taylor of the Fourth District Court who ORDERED an investigation last January 2012, by the Utah County Attorney as per State Code. The County Attorney Jeffrey Buhman refused to investigate. Many have wondered why, especially considering the 6 resignations of city officials, and the Mayor’s federal bank fraud charges and penalties, resignation, etc.
We later learned that Peter Stirba simultaneously was working for the Utah County Attorney Buhman, who he advised regarding this case in a letter. This was an undeclared conflict of interest known by both Stirba and Buhman. Complaints were filed with the County Commissioners and the Utah Bar Association, but we are unaware of any corrective action against Stirba or Buhman. (see attached PDF of GRAMA requested Stirba “smoking gun” letter… Stirba letter to County Attorney – pg1of2 & Stirba letter to County Attorney – pg2of2 )
STIRBA & ASSOCIATES (Peter Stirba)
TOTAL $40,246
ETJ LAW INC (Eric Johnson of Blaisdell & Church P.C.)
TOTAL $120,475
For complete copy of the redacted (incomplete) partial billing records provided by the City BEFORE a Hearing was requested on December 7th, and granted before the Utah State Records Committee. Please how virtually no “description” of the expensive services was provided. … Legal Services Billings GRAMA Request.13Nov2012
Within two business days after the Hearing request was requested, the City was suddenly “inspired” or motivated to provide much more information AFTER. Why the sudden change of heart, if you are “always” impartially, honestly, openly and transparently providing GRAMA requested public information? Please compare the BEFORE (above) and AFTER (below) documents. Then you decide if Cedar Hills officials have been forthcoming from the start.
11Dec2012.ETJ LAW INC Blaisdell & Church Invoices.pdf