Payne, council members respond to resignation

Libby’s soon-to-be former City Attorney Richard Allan Payne said the contract terms demanded by the Libby City Council were the primary reason he made the decision to not renew the contract when it expires at the end of this year.

“I have reviewed the contract terms you provided, which I understand to be the contract terms the City Council will accept,” Payne wrote in a letter addressed to Mayor Doug Roll and dated Dec. 8, 2015. “Unfortunately, the contract terms and the format will not allow the firm to continue its appointment as City Attorney.”

Payne cited three specific issues with the proposed contract in his letter to the mayor: the proposed new ethical requirements, the provision allowing any member of the City Council to request legal advice and a reduction in the firm’s fee.

“Even so, the firm remains committed to providing the city that same level of service, but there are several new contract terms that are too one-sided or would be difficult or impossible for any attorney to satisfy,” he wrote in the letter. “For example, we are more than happy and professionally required to continue to satisfy the ethical provisions in the new contract, but if one party is going to have such contractual obligations, so should the other party. After the last City Council meeting, it is obvious there is not the necessary support to bind the city of the council to a reciprocal ethical standard.”

“Another important issue created by the new contract is that any council member may request legal advice from the City Attorney under what would be a reduced flat fee. This will mean even more work for the City Attorney’s office for less pay, and would allow any council member to heap as much work on the City Attorney as he/she wishes without restraint. If the City Attorney were paid an hourly rate for this extra work, then the consequences would be mitigated; however, the contract sets a flat fee for this work, a fee the new contract reduces. Given the quality and quantity of the work this firm has provided to the city, I do not believe any reduction in the flat fee is warranted.”

Payne’s letter was delivered by Mayor Roll to the city hall boxes of most of the members of the City Council Monday morning, although Councilwoman Peggy Williams confirmed she had received the letter “some time last week.”

Council President Brent Teske said he didn’t feel the council requests were inappropriate or excessive.

“We are the client, we should be able to require a code of ethics from our attorney,” Teske said. “It also didn’t appear to me that the council’s requests were excessive or ‘heaping work on the City Attorney.” The resolution and ordinance work was pretty standard from what I could tell, and while there were a few questions about council policy and procedure, they weren’t excessive.”

Councilman Allen Olsen said the actions of Payne and Roll created the mess the city is facing.

“Bottom line: Had we gotten the motion that I made two months ago about looking for a new attorney, then we wouldn’t be in this mess,” he said. “If he was so unwilling to work with the council he should have let us know back then. Doug Roll and Allan Payne created the mess that Libby’s in right now. Had there been an open discussion on the agenda, we could have solved this before it became an urgent issue.”

The Western News posed several questions to Payne, his responses are included, verbatim.

TWN: “My information indicates you made the decision to not pursue renewal of the contract with the City of Libby. Is this correct? If so, why did you make that decision?”

Payne: “I was offered a contract by the City, which Mr. Neff and Mr. Olsen stated is the only contract the Council supported.  As I stated in my December 8, 2015 letter declining that contract, it contains terms I do not think are fair or workable.”

TWN: “Why was the decision made so suddenly? The contract is due to expire at the end of this month, and the council hadn’t received any indication before Thursday of your intent to leave.”

Payne: “You asked, ‘Why was the decision made so suddenly?’ First, the phrasing of your  question reveals a bias. The decision was not made “suddenly” and I’m sure, had I waited any longer, the question would then have been, “why did you wait so long to decide.”  About two months ago, Mr. Olsen and Mr. Neff asserted themselves into the process of renewing the City Attorney Contract. They never contacted me to determine what contract terms would or would not be acceptable to my firm. Instead, they drafted a new contract based on their skill and knowledge of legal services available to the City. Then, claiming the backing of the entire Council, provided the Mayor a copy on about Dec. 1 and asked that I be offered the contract.  The Mayor provided me a copy about that same day.  I took a week to consider the contract and its impact on the firm and, after the City Council meeting on Dec. 7th, decided it was not a fair or workable contract and declined it.  As my contract expires at the end of the year, I wanted to give the City as long as possible to find a replacement City Attorney.”

 “I find it hard to believe Mr. Olsen had no indication the firm would not accept the contract.  Mr. Olsen voted against my firm being retained as the City Attorney in the first place; he has voted against my firm being paid what it was owed under the contract; he drafted a contract that reduces the compensation the firm receives for being City Attorney; and, finally, during the last City Council meeting, he tried to get the Council to fire the firm and opposed applying the same code of ethics to himself as a City Council member as was contained in the contract.  So, if he now claims he had no indication I might not accept the new City Contract, he just hasn’t been paying attention to his own campaign to that end.  I said the firm would consider any contract, I did not say it would accept any contract.”

TWN: “What happens to the pending cases before City Court in the absence of a City Attorney?”

Payne: “I will do all I can to protect the City’s interests, but what happens if a new City Attorney cannot be found is probably a question best answered by Mr. Olsen and Mr. Neff, as I understand they have assumed responsibility for oversight of the City Attorney and its contract.”

TWN: “Do you intend to maintain your representation of the City County Board of Health? 

“Are you currently representing the county or city on any other matters?

“If so, what are they and do you intend to continue in those matters?”

Payne did not respond to the final questions, but did indicate he would forward the questions and answers provided to other media outlets “to insure (sic) that a fair and accurate version of my responses are presented.”