Commission questions attorney billing discrepancies

By Charlene Sims, info@linncountyjournal.com

MOUND CITY – During the Linn County Commission meeting on Monday, Nov. 4, commissioners discussed the invoice from Foulston Siefkin LLP that was presented the prior week. While it was paid in the claims last week, Johnson asked for more details on the bill.

Foulston Siefkin is the company that the commission hired in September 2023 to help with solar energy conditional use permits, agreements, regulations and terms. The company was hired on a 2-to-1 vote with Johnson voting against hiring them. He said he thought that additional firms should be looked at.

At the Nov. 4 meeting, Johnson said that he had questions about the things that the county got charged for. 

“The detailed billing, I mean, the one part where they took it upon theirself on the 16-page document off of one commissioner,” he said. I don’t know what that was but that’s something on the bill and then with that bill, the detail of the billing. I look back at (former County Counselor Gary Thompson’s) summary logs and he’s talking to her in December charging us for it and her summary logs or her details quits in November.

“So I don’t know. I just think there’s no correlation in the two. Gary charged us for his time. You guys can look back at his summaries he charged us for, like I think it was 9.2 hours of talking to (Foulston Siefkin attorney) Trish. And then I don’t think her summary is real thorough on what she did for us.”

McCullough asked if it was something they wanted to bring to the table next week and go over in detail to figure out what is happening.

Johnson said he was he was also concerned about the price.

“I mean even like the price, and they dropped the price, but you know I don’t think there’s anywhere in our minutes, David, you can look back on that, too, that we actually voted on a price per hour,” said Johnson.

County Clerk David Lamb answered that no there was no price per hour voted on.

Johnson continued, “Whatever it is, loyalty discount or whatever, they immediately dropped their charge one-third right off the bat and on a bill that’s a year old. I don’t know why did they give us a discount and wait a year to bill us?”

The commissioners decided to discuss this in depth next week.