SEQUIM — In an effort to economize on lawyer fees, the Sequim City Council is considering turning its part-time attorney, Craig Ritchie, into a full-timer and hire a deputy to work alongside him.
How could such an increase save money, you ask?
It’s a matter of having two employees on staff instead of contracting out for legal services.
The Sequim council members opted to revisit the city attorney issue, and possibly vote on it, during their next meeting on Monday. That session will begin at 6 p.m. in the Transit Center, 190 W. Cedar St.
This fiscal year, Sequim is spending $292,221 to pay three legal professionals: Ritchie as primary city attorney, his legal secretary Erika Hamerquist and contract attorney Chris Shea, who handles prosecutions of offenders in District Court.
The city’s need for prosecution services has risen considerably, and so has the cost of paying the prosecutor, Interim City Manager Robert Spinks told the City Council during its study session on Monday.
The jump wasn’t unexpected, since misdemeanor arrests and case filings more than doubled between 2004 and 2007. Last year the city reviewed 702 such cases for prosecution.
“We’re a busy city, relative to criminal operations,” said Spinks, who is also Sequim’s police chief.
And when the prosecution services contract came up for renewal recently, it totaled $160,000.
The city could quit contracting out for legal services, Spinks told the council, if it has Ritchie go full time, and hires a half-time deputy attorney to handle prosecutions.
Administrative services director Karen Goschen agreed with Spinks that having two professionals on staff is likely to save Sequim money.
Salaried staffers tend to work more hours than scheduled, she added.
Currently Ritchie is scheduled to work about 23 hours per week.
“He’s worked a lot of hours he hasn’t charged us for,” Goschen said.
She believes that would continue for Ritchie and the yet-to-be-hired deputy city attorney — and the city would benefit since it would no longer be paying a contractor by the hour.
