The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday gave direction to City Manager Denise Bevan to negotiate a contract for legal services with Douglas Law Firm, a Palatka-based group. When the item came up for discussion in the city’s business meeting, all five members of the City Council praised Douglas Law Firm for their presentation and for other interactions throughout the vetting process.
Bevan will now meet with Douglas Law to reach a tentative agreement on a monthly rate for the city government to retain the firm as their outside legal counsel. As stated by Councilwoman Theresa Carli Pontieri during the meeting, Douglas Law presented the figure most in-line with the $29k-$30k figure the City Council is accustomed to paying. This would be well within the $685,000 budgeted for City Attorney expenses in 2024.
The vote to direct Bevan to start negotiations was unanimous. The City Council previously contracted the services of Garganese, Weiss, D-Argesta, and Salzman from 2008 until last December, when the firm ended the partnership. Ex-City Attorney Neysa Borkert, who inherited the duties in 2021 from Bill Reischmann, left her seat at the dais at the end of the last year.
Vice Mayor Ed Danko said he in particular was pleased with Douglas Law’s philosophy toward their role in representing a municipality. He said the meeting he had with the firm communicated that they understood they worked for the City Council.
Also mentioned in the conversation was the Vose Law Firm, a group based out of Winter Park. One of Vose’s partners, Paul Waters, currently serves as the City Attorney for the City of Bunnell, opening up the hypothetical possibility of conflicts of interest should the two cities ever find themselves at odds in a legal matter. Beyond that, Councilwoman Cathy Heighter remarked that she found Vose’s proposed fees to be much higher than her comfort zone.
Representatives of both Douglas and Vose were present for the meeting, but neither firm offered comment when the public was given the chance to do so. The representatives of Vose departed once the motion passed, leaving the Douglas men to enjoy the rest of the meeting in tentative victory.
Chris Gollon is a Flagler County resident since 2004, as well as a staple of the local independent music scene and avid observer of Central Florida politics, arts, and recreation.
