Maitland approves pay raise for city attorney

Maitland City Council approved a pay raise for the city attorney and made progress on a few local parks during an hourlong meeting Monday, Nov. 27.

In a lengthy debate, council members discussed the merits of eliminating a retainer provision for city attorney Cliff Shepard.

Shepard has had a retainer of $5,000 per month with an hourly rate of $190 after 40 hours since 2005. According to city documents, this has equated to $125 per hour for the first 40 hours.

 “The retainer is a frustrating thing for me,” Shepard said. “I literally get less per hour than the associates who work for me because of this discount.”

City documents estimate around $32,000 is written off each year through the retainer credit. The proposed retainer’s elimination would make all hours billable at $190.

City manager Sharon Anselmo said the proposed rate was well within the pay range of other city’s attorneys.

While most council members were comfortable eliminating the provision, Councilwoman Bev Reponen had reservations approving the raise without a formal evaluation of Sheppard’s services as city attorney.

“I don’t know how to justify an increase in pay … without an evaluation,” Reponen said.

As Shepard is contracted to work with the city rather than being a city employee, he does not have to go through a performance review process like the city clerk or city manager.

While Shepard was open to a review, council members expressed uncertainty about just who would create such an evaluation and what the grading criteria would be. Anselmo was unsure which other cities evaluated their attorneys.

 Ultimately, council members expressed satisfaction with Shepard’s performance as city attorney and eliminated the retainer provision with Reponen as the sole dissenting vote.

Local Parks

The council also approved work on numerous local parks.

They authorized a $69,000 design contract to improve Fort Maitland Park. Improved parking, a new restroom building as well as a playground and picnic area were all included in the contract. The design is scheduled to be finished in the 2018 fiscal year, pushing plans for a Hill Recreation Park design project back to 2019.

The council moved to formally name a proposed park on Fennell Street as Fennell Park. Council members were unsure what “Fennell” in the newly-christened park referred to, so a proviso was added to look into the origins of the name.