Two city attorneys will retire and the attorney's office union will disband as part of an agreement between the city and the union, Teamsters Local 214. The agreement, approved Monday night by the City Commission, also settles the unfair labor practice complaint brought by the union, and the lawsuit and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint brought by Assistant City Attorney C. Brian James. "I think I would have preferred to enter into another labor agreement and continue to work for the city, but the city did not want to do that, so that was not an option," James said.
Under the agreement, Local 214 no longer exists, and James and Deputy City Attorney James Marcinkowski will retire. The union included the two attorneys and two secretaries.
Marcinkowski's retirement is retroactive to June 30, when the union's contract expired. He was paid about $97,000 a year, and his pension will be about $48,000 a year, said City Attorney David Gillam.
James will go on disability retirement until he reaches age 60 (in 2011), when he will go on regular retirement. His salary was about $92,000 and his pension will be about $3,700 a month, Gillam said.
The City's Attorney's office, which also includes attorney Mark Liss, who wasn't in Local 214, will hire one additional attorney, Gillam said. He said the changes will save the city $150,000 a year.
Relations between the city and Local 214 have been strained for years, since the union was created in 2002. The attorney office employees created a union in late 2002, James said previously, when the City Commission held a special meeting the employees feared was set up to remove the city attorney and attorney staff.
In May 2006, Local 214 filed an unfair labor practice charge, alleging that the city was taking work from city employees and giving it to outside firms. James filed a lawsuit this January, alleging the city took work from him in retaliation for his involvement in pro-union activities.
"I think the attorney client relationship was not in good shape by the end of the contract," James said. "I think the office was organized originally to try to take the political aspect out of the practice of law on behalf of the city and I think with the loss of union protection that politics is once again reinjected into the office of the city attorney."
Among nearby cities, Royal Oak's city attorney situation is rare. Cities including Ferndale, Berkley and Clawson contract city attorneys. For those and smaller cities, such as Huntington Woods and Pleasant Ridge, attorney work is contracted out because it is seen as more cost-effective or there is not enough work to warrant one or more full-time city employees.
(hometownlife.com)
