$210 an hour whitewashing lawyer Jonathan "I'm Gay" Wilson (left). GED recipient and former $368,000-a-year CIETC head Ramona Cunningham with Senator Tom Harkin (right) at the dedication of the "Tom Harkin Learning Center" at CIETC offices in October 20, 2004.
From the Des Moines Register:
The attorney for the Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium has refused to make public copies of his law firm's bills to the government agency.
On Jan. 12, The Des Moines Register asked CIETC for copies of bills from the law firm of Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, which employs CIETC's hired attorney, Jonathan Wilson. On Monday, Wilson responded to that request by saying he believed all of CIETC's billing statements from his office are "attorney work product" and thus not required to be disclosed under the Iowa Open Records Law.
He told the Register that any billing statements related to litigation or legal claims "will not be released to you absent specific authorization to do so by the CIETC board."
Wilson said he was unable to discuss the matter with the CIETC board at its last meeting, but said he would be willing to do so at the next meeting, which is scheduled for Feb. 15. Any board discussion over whether to make the bills public would likely be in closed session.
Wilson said he would be willing to release copies of legal bills that relate to nonlitigation matters such as general legal work. However, he said those billing statements would have to be reviewed and redacted, and the Register would have to pay "my discounted hourly rate of $210 an hour" for that work to be done.
Typically, a private company that bills a government agency like CIETC for its services doesn't have a say in the agency's decision to make public the company's billing statements. But as CIETC's legal adviser, Wilson can bill CIETC for his services and also recommend that those bills be kept confidential.
As of December, CIETC's legal fees totaled more than $297,000, and they currently represent the agency's biggest ongoing expense, averaging $1,200 per day.
Many of CIETC's legal expenses are tied to the agency's refusal to pay back the state $1.5 million that it allegedly misspent on salaries. It's expected that central Iowa taxpayers - particularly those in Polk County - will wind up paying those legal fees.
What a clusterfuck.
Related: Jonathan "I'm Gay" Wilson Bills Iowa Taxpayers $1193 for Writing A Letter To The Des Moines Register
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