At the Town Council meeting on March 6, 2018, the three members who opposed firing our town attorney were forced to join the other four in approving an additional $160,000 for legal services through June 30, 2018.

Why this extra $40,000 per month? In order to pay the interim attorney, who was brought on during a time of extraordinary legal challenges and projects.

With the town for over 15 years, our legal counsel was expertly familiar with all the issues when he was abruptly dismissed in a disgraceful effort led by Councilman Cecil Yates, supported by Mayor Kavanagh and Councilmen Brown and Tolis.

The only reason we had the “extra” funding for this expenditure was due to a fortunate substantial decrease in this year’s MCSO contract, and a little more state shared revenue coming in.

The council’s comprehensive discussion and comparison of legal services show that this is just the beginning of increased attorney costs. We will not again match the quality of legal services provided at the rates we enjoyed for so many years.

In the words of our town manager at that retreat, “This switch over really cost us.” Indeed, in many ways.