We have to give credit where it is due and congratulate County
Supervisors for shutting off the unconscionable flow of taxpayer
money to outside lawyers.
We have to give credit where it is due and congratulate County Supervisors for shutting off the unconscionable flow of taxpayer money to outside lawyers.
Since 2000, San Benito County has shelled out more than $3 million to private attorneys to defend itself. The suits have included such high-profile cases as the lawsuit against Supervisor Richard Scagliotti alleging corruption, a hostile work environment lawsuit against District Attorney John Sarsfield and the lengthy Sandman mining suit, among others.
What was really dismaying about legal costs in prior years was San Benito County’s stark contrast in spending priorities. While the county spent millions on lawyers, it slashed $17,000 from the University of California Cooperative Extension, putting 4-H programs in a pinch, and cut $55,000 from libraries to balance last year’s budget.
More than $3 million is an obscene amount of money to spend on outside attorneys when the county has an in-house staff of four lawyers, and a budget that has been balanced on reserves. Consider that a Yuba County auditor estimated that his county, which has similar-size population as San Benito County, spent “probably $20,000” on outside lawyers in a year.
The Free Lance published several articles about the spending, and it became an issue during last year’s Board of Supervisors election when many candidates promised to rein in the reckless expenditure of taxpayer money.
The board recently took action and fired one law firm that was charging the county $400 an hour, and now want county department heads to use the law firm that handles its insurance issues and charges only $160 per hour.
And earlier this year, the board curtailed the unbelievable practice of allowing any county department head with a little extra cash in his budget to hire a lawyer. All requests for outside legal assistance must now be cleared through County Counsel Claude Biddle’s office.
Those are slam dunk decisions that the board endorsed, and they are decisions that show the supervisors are taking their fiscal duties seriously, which is most welcome.
San Benito County has a $76 million budget this year, balanced by using $2.4 million from its reserves. With that kind of money comes the responsibility to spend it wisely. Remember, the $3 million lining the pockets of big-time attorneys didn’t belong to administrators, it belonged to the taxpayers of San Benito County.
We’re glad that the candidates made good on their word and the rest of the board recognize the need to make wholesale changes to the way the county hires outside lawyers.
