New county counsel hired amid Tea Party protest

BY SALLY MORRIS

THE TRINITY JOURNAL

Trinity County supervisors last week voted unanimous support for the appoint­ment of anew County Counsel attorney, David Prentice from the Cota Cole, IIP law firm in RoseviJle over some heated objec­tions by local Tea Party activists in the audience.

It was the eighth amendment to a con­tract the county initially entered in July 2008 for interim services from the Cota Cole law firm. Prior amendments included extensions and various changes in the name of the firm.

This one names David Prentice as coun­ty counsel in place of Derek Cole, whose primary focus in the firm has shifted to litigation making him less available for county business though he will continue as an assistant.

The annual contract amount of $115,000 has never changed, but the current term is set to expire June 30 and the county is in the process of preparing a request for proposals for a new contract, either with Cota Cole or any others that may compete for it.

Prentice has been working with Trinity County since last fall, assisting in labor negotiations with the employee bargain­ing units. He has been employed by Cota Cole since 2010 and before that he served as county counsel for seven years in Made-ra County. He was also the city attorney for Col fax and continues as city attorney for Taft and as district counsel for the Monterey Peninsula Airport District.

Speakers from, the audience last week urged the Board of Supervisors to drop Cota Colt! altogether and assign county counsel duties back to the county's District Attorney or to hire a local attor­ney. They attempted to discredit Prentice specifically, citing cases he worked on in Madera County based on accounts found in a local newspaper there and a com­munity newsletter involving a road access dispute.

"He's against roads, logging and the people's rights given to us by God to use the lands for our tax base. Please don't do this. He'll create nothing but lawsuits for you," argued Terry Sheen of Weaverville.

Diane Richards of Hayfork argued that the contract with Cota Cole is a violation of the Board of Supervisors' own ordi-

nance regarding county counsel services "that are supposed to be provided by a county employee - a human being, not a contractor or a firm."

Tom Fox of Weaverville argued that the ordinance also specifies a county counsel term of four years, but by the end of June, the Cota Cole contract will have been in. effect for five.

County Administrative Officer Wendy Tyler responded that the initial, short-term contract was for interim services "because we were changing from an in-house, 40-hour a week person to a com­pletely new service model and we .honestly weren't sure if it was going-to work for the county."

Prentice also responded to the accusers, saying he is happy to speak with anyone about his record of service spanning 25 years "and  human decency requires you to at least ask me before convicting me in the public domain, as you have today."

He argued that the accounts they cited were one-sided misrepresentations gleaned from the Internet and he has based his career on "doing what was right instead of what was expedient."

Richards accused him of "tunneling" work from Madera County to Cota Cole , where his wife and son worked., and Prentice said "this is ridiculous. Cases, were assigned on a rotation basis Ivy risk management, not me. And my teen­age son's involvement was to help move furniture. Get the facts and come talk to me."

Regarding the legality of the county's, contract with Cota Cole, Prentice said many counties contract for county coun­sel services and the state attorney general has already weighed in that it is legal to contract with a firm to supply a person. Every county is subject to the same rules, he said.

CAO Tyler noted that even when the county employed a full-time county coun­sel, it was done on a contract basis that cost a lot more than the SI 15.000 annual contract with Coca Cole.

Prentice said that under the newly amended contract, he plans to begin hold­ing office hours in the count]' two days a week with assistance from two other attorneys in addition to Derek Cole.

"So what's really happening is we are stepping up the services here without increasing the bill," he said.