The City of Montesano soon will begin the task of finding a new city attorney, attempting to find new legal representation by Aug.31, the day current City Attorney Dan Glenn has announced as his date of resignation.
In a memo to Montesano Mayor Ken Estes and City Administrator Kristy Powell, Glenn said he chose this year because it represents a milestone for his career.
“As you are aware, 2015 is a significant year from my personal standpoint for a number of reasons,” Glenn wrote in the memo. “Those reasons include the fact that it represents the 40th year in which I have had the opportunity to represent the city after then-Mayor Bussard and the then-serving council members provided me with that opporunity.”
Glenn also is the city attorney for the cities of Elma, McCleary and Oakville. On Monday, Glenn said he has no plans to resign from those cities “at this time.” Glenn also has a private practice in Olympia — Glenn &Associates PS. Resigning from the City of Montesano will ease his schedule, he said.
“Maybe it’s time to enjoy some more time off,” Glenn said on Monday. “It’s as simple as that.”
Estes received the resignation memo late last week, and on Friday the mayor said Glenn had served the city well.
“He’s been loyal to the city,” Estes said. “He’s accomplished the things we’ve asked him to do, and he’s always here when we need him — when I pick up the phone, he’s there.”
Coincidentally by all accounts, the memo came two days after members of the Montesano City Council had asked the mayor to look into legal represenation. City officials have known official notice of resignation would be coming because last fall Glenn had told the Mayor and city administrator that he would retire in 2015. The lingering, unaswered question (until late last week) was when in 2015 Glenn would separate from the city.
During the city council meeting on Feb. 24, the council was vocally upset that it hadn’t received a draft document Glenn had said he would provide (vacating the right of way of a city-owned alley, meant to resolve an ongoing dispute between neighbors). Glenn had been on vacation in Hawaii and wasn’t at the meeting. Councilmen Chris Hutchings and Ken Walkington each asked the mayor about the status of looking for legal services during the council comment period.
“When we specifically ask for things that don’t get done, that frustrates me,” Walkington said. “We need to seriously look at making progress there.”
And while they were upset by the lack of the requested document, Estes said the council members were unaware of the details behind the request. He added that Glenn had provided information about vacating the right of way in a written staff report included in the council packet.
“They were a little upset that he didn’t get a paper to them that was supposed to be, and I don’t think it was 100 percent justified,” Estes said on Friday. “Even though they’ve asked for this, there are procedures that must be gone through before you can reach the vacation on property that has permissive use. You can’t just vacate it overnight. First thing that must be done is there’s an agreement by law that we must give a 30-day notice … it may have been that he realized you cannot vacate a property without legally going through the steps to get there.”
Overall, Estes said, the contention didn’t represent the majority of council members.
“There’s a council of seven in there, and two are outspoken,” Estes said. “The biggest compalint I’ve heard is that Glenn doesn’t speak up and he doesn’t use the microphone.”
Council members Pam McElliott and Marisa Salzer were not at the meeting.
On Monday, Glenn said he was made aware of the conversation after the fact, but he declined to comment further.
Moving forward, the city will seek representation, and how applicants will be reviewed is yet to be determined. But the final step of the hiring process is clear, Estes said.
“It’s up to the mayor to hire and the council to affirm the appointment,” Estes said.
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