Pfeifer Weighs in on County Attorney

I am strongly opposed to weakening this important position, trying to achieve a cost saving that has not been proven to exist and may not exist at all. 

Legal fees for Fayette County are generated in two ways.  One way is by requests for services from the County Administration, including the Board of Commissioners.  We ask for the services, the attorney does not suggest them. 

The other way legal services are generated is when another party sues the County (sometimes people arrested sue the County), makes legal requests of the County (an example would be for “Open Records”) or requires the County to perform some legal action (often these would be mandates from State and Federal Government). 

I do not agree that the job of the County Attorney is “not that complex”.  Sometimes it is and sometimes it is not.  I believe that a job of the County Attorney is to try to not let things get too complex and to try to keep things simple but that doesn’t always happen. 

If we change our practice, hire an “in-house” Attorney and hire an outside attorney for the difficult items, the “real” Attorney would not be at meetings and able to keep up to speed, our “real” Attorney would be out of touch and we’d miss the timely comments and the astute recommendations that we need.  And, we’d be paying extra for them.  “Real” Attorney’s fees plus the “in-house” Attorney’s salary.

Services such as Legal, Accounting and Engineering are based, or should be based, on performance.  How much did the supplier of the service save you?  Are you doing things so that your performance is enhanced and your risk is reduced?  This is even truer when your County is dealing with your money and quality of life.  

The firm we employ has recognized expertise in “Municipal Law”, in Zoning, Land Acquisition, Contracts, Workers Compensation and “Water Law”.   

What’s been the result or our relationship?  So far, most Fayette County Commissions have been very tough on rezoning and have not allowed many that would create too much density in the County. Yet, the County does not get sued often because other attorneys in the state recognize our reputation and we don’t lose when sued.  Does that reflect on the quality of our legal advice and services?  It does to me. 

The County also hasn’t lost a “contractual lawsuit”.  The most important reason for this is that the Attorney has helped to prepare the contracts and has checked them over for legality. 

This firm has handled real estate negotiation and acquisition.  They have handled the establishment of the Fayette County Water System.  That system is one of the better performing systems in the State of Georgia.  As I have pointed out before, during drought we do much better here than do many communities in Georgia.   

It is probable that you don’t know this but this firm saved your County over a million dollars in utility relocation costs alone during the construction of Lake Horton! 

You also probably don’t know that they managed the acquisition of antenna tower facilities for the “821” conversion for your county.  This conversion was a federally mandated switch in the E911 services we all rely on for emergencies.  The Federal Government changed the service frequencies and this required that the County obtain new equipment including new service at towers throughout the county.  The Attorneys managed this project for your county and with negotiation skills and knowledge; they saved your County hundreds of thousands of dollars.   

These savings are NOT included in and subtracted from “legal expenses”.  If they were, the amount we pay for legal services would be greatly offset.  Good services can save you money!  It’s usually easier, and less expensive; to keep out of trouble than it is to get out of trouble you are already in. The money saved offsets a considerable portion of our legal cost, but it isn’t accounted for and we don’t see it directly. 

Independence is important.  Outside service suppliers are much more free to object and to tell it like it is.   We are all familiar with the concept of employees, which an in-house Attorney would be, being “Yes Men” to those who employ them. 

You get what you pay for.  An attorney, willing to accept the job of an in-house Attorney at the salary level this county would be capable of paying, would not be experienced or would not be very good.  Otherwise, they would not need to take this job!  Remember, the current Attorney does not rely solely on their income from the County.  An in-house Attorney would. 

The County Administration has done some checking.  They checked with other governments in Georgia about their legal expenses and how they handled their legal needs.  Some are “in-house’, some outside, some with both.  No “magic bullets”.  No big cost savings. 

Do we want to accept “that’s good enough”?  Fayette County is different from most other counties; our citizens and government demand mature, professional, experienced and independent service.  We have it, let’s not toss it away.

Peter Pfeifer
County Commission, Post 3