SUMMARY: Requires that the City of Daytona Beach contract for legal services, rather than having a legal department provide such services.
Why do we need this amendment?
Over half of Florida municipalities, such as Altamonte Springs, don’t employ city attorneys. (Click here for the facts). They use independent legal counsel on a contract basis and save hundred of thousands of dollars annually.
As the chief legal officer of Daytona Beach government, our city attorney’s key responsibility is to protect taxpayers’ interests, minimize risk and loss; provide accurate legal advice to city management and elected officials; provide legal oversight in all city business matters and prevent litigation against the city by attempting settlement or compromise on claims. (Click here for evidence)
Our city attorney’s office has a demonstrated history of providing poor legal advice for elected officials and city management with little legal oversight performed. They’ve repeatedly placed taxpayers’ money at risk by creating poorly written laws, providing bad or no legal advice, arguing lawsuits that should be settled, settling lawsuits that should go to trial and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for outside legal consultants while increasing their budget every year. (Click here for Legal Judgments and Settlements Against Daytona Beach). (Click here for Florida BAR complaint filed against City Attorney Robert Brown).