November 20, 2014
The Times Editorial Board

Today the Lake County Solid Waste Management District Board has an opportunity to further reduce wasteful spending at the troubled agency. The board should eliminate the full-time attorney position.

This is nothing against attorney Clifford Duggan, who has held that position for years. Instead, it’s about bringing costs under control.

Only two of Indiana’s 70 solid waste districts have an attorney on staff. Allen County paid its staff attorney $19,560 in 2013. At Lake County’s solid waste district, Duggan was paid $88,658 last year.

On top of that, the Lake County surveyor’s office pays Duggan a $20,000 flat fee for a year’s worth of work. Surveyor Bill Emerson Jr. said he plans to save taxpayers money by switching to an hourly rate for services rendered.

Either a flat rate or an hourly rate for legal services should be considered by the solid waste board.

“The solid waste district shouldn’t justify a lot of legal work,” said board member Rick Ryfa, who is also on the Griffith Town Council. Ryfa favors an hourly rate.

Sure, the district has had some legal challenges surrounding controversial decisions like the trash-to-ethanol proposal that lingered for years before being shut down. And then there’s the termination of longtime Executive Director Jeff Langbehn’s contract.

But outside counsel was sought in both cases.

“That means our legal costs doubled during that time because we already were paying a full-time attorney and then had to hire another firm as well,” Ryfa said.

Emerson said the surveyor’s office saved $19,412 this year compared to last year by switching to an hourly rate for its licensed surveyor. Why shouldn’t the taxpayers benefit from a similar arrangement for the waste agency’s legal services?

No way does the Lake County Solid Waste Management District need a full-time attorney. Handle it on a contract basis, the way other government agencies do.

Original article can be found here.