The East Lansing City Council authorized the temporary hiring of a private lawyer for special legal counsel during its June 24 work session.
The city will hire Michael J. Hodge of Miller Canfield law to provide legal counsel in response to the recently filed petition. Miller Canfield is an international law firm with a location in Lansing, Mich.
The petition, signed by at least at 2,269 citizens, seeks to create a legal department for the city and hire a City Attorney that would be directly hired by the city.
The aim of the reform is to remove potential conflict of interest between private law firms and the city while possibly saving the city money in the long run.
Because the petition directly relates to the city attorney, it would be a conflict of interest for the city to seek legal counsel on this matter. To combat this, the city has opted to hire another private lawyer during this process.
Hodge has no prior experience working with the City of East Lansing. His selection was based on recommendations made to the city manager.
"(Michael J. Hodge) is an expert on election law,” East Lansing City Manager George Lahanas said.
The recommendation also received praise by Council Member Ruth Beier.
“I had no idea (the city) was going to choose Hodge, but he is great,” Beier said. “He is very helpful with ballot questions.”
Beier also thanked the city for removing this potential conflict of interest.
“This is a good example of doing everything we can to be transparent,” Beier said.
The process must move quickly, according to city procedure. The City Clerk must finish validating petition signatures within 45 days of filing a petition and then start drafting a proposal.
If the City Clerk has any legal questions during these processes, Hodge will assist her. Hodge will work on a call-to-call basis for the city.
Jeffery Hank, co-chair of the East Lansing Citizens for a Public Servant City Attorney, the group behind the petition, said the decision is “wholly appropriate.”
“We asked the city to make sure the current city attorney didn’t have a conflict of interest during this process,” Hank said. “This is just standard.”
