Tuesday, March 07, 2017

Montgomery County Council to hire immigration attorney - without knowing how much he'll charge

The Montgomery County Council is poised to hire an expensive immigration attorney for undisclosed purposes this morning - and when they vote, they won't even know how much he'll charge you, the taxpayer, per hour. If approved by the Council today, Leon Rodriguez of the law firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP would hold the title of Special Counsel "in connection with immigration issues," a Council memo states.

But according to Bill Turque of the Washington Post, the Council does not yet know how much Rodriquez will charge the County for his services. Yet another sign of incompetence and fiscal mismanagement by our big-spending County Council.
Councilmember George Leventhal
What exactly are we paying County Attorney Marc P. Hansen $210,143 per year to do, when for the umpteenth time, we are hiring extra attorneys for County business? Hansen is certainly qualified to address any immigration issue as it pertains to Montgomery County. Is this hire focused on some kind of planned political publicity stunts at the federal level, even as Montgomery County's moribund private sector economy continues to stall, traffic congestion worsens, and schools continue to decline?
Councilmember Hans Riemer
That would be a violation of the Council's oath of office. But with unlimited power to pickpocket your wallet, the Council never passes up a chance to lawyer up.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

When you have the high tax paying citizens of Westbard suing the county they live/work in, there is clearly a serious problem. Time to drain the filthy, slimy, corrupted MoCo governmental swamp!

Anonymous said...

As usual, what Dyer claimed that Turque wrote, and what Turque himself actually wrote, are two completely different things. This is what Turque actually wrote:

"Rodriguez, 54, is a partner in the D.C. office of the law firm Seyfarth Shaw. He declined to comment Monday.

"Hansen said it was not certain how many hours Rodriguez would work. His hourly fee is still under negotiation."

Anonymous said...

Direct quotes from Dyer's claimed sources get quickly deleted here.

Robert Dyer said...

3:18: Did you read the quote you cut and pasted? It says EXACTLY WHAT I REPORTED - "his hourly fee is still under negotiation." They don't know what his hourly fee is at the time they are approving his hiring! Is English your first language?

Anonymous said...

Delusional Robert Dyer off his rocker yet again. Jesus Christ you are a lunatic - the world suffers every time you write your insane posts.

Anonymous said...

Dyer, just who do you think is "negotiating" with him, you fucking moron?

Anonymous said...

Once again, this is standard business practice. There are plenty of real things to complain about when it comes to the County Council, of which I am not a fan. But you reaching like this makes you sound unhinged or at least uneducated. Real world, please.

Anonymous said...

@3:50AM - +1000

Dyer and his selective facts. So when they vote, it's possible the negotiating will be over and they'll know the cost? If not they'll know a range?

With all the new immigration changes, I would think that many organizations would need to strengthen their knowledge and procedures.

Henny-pennying.

Robert Dyer said...

9:36: You are as dense as you are foul-mouthed. The executive branch is negotiating the fee. The Council is voting to hire him BEFORE THEY KNOW WHAT HIS FEE WILL BE.

3:50: WRONG. No responsible official would sign a contract before knowing what the cost is. We could end up losing big money.

4:32: Facts are facts. I realize you are comfortable with incompetence and corruption as long as your people can retain power. The other 99.9% in the County are not comfortable with that.

Anonymous said...

"The Executive branch is negotiating the fee. The Council is voting to hire him BEFORE THEY KNOW WHAT HIS FEE WILL BE."

Dyer, do you actually believe that there will be no communication between "the executive branch" and the Council, regarding the fee, before the Council votes?

Robert Dyer said...

7:05: They were voting yesterday, and the fee had not been determined at the time of the vote. Is English your first language?

Anonymous said...

Robert Dyer @ 6:50
I am 4:32. Facts are facts. Purposely ignoring some facts to make your accusations seem true is deception.

Sadly, you realize nothing about me. Of course, I realize you need to think that about another person to support your point.

You just insulted 7:05AM, a reader, for no reason. I thought you said you never did that. Hmmm.

Anonymous said...

Dyer, 7:05 here (and I am not 10:25). Why did you delete my response to your comment @ 7:35, in which I told you that Turque's article was written on Monday?

Anonymous said...

Money paid to special council or county council aside..all lawyers aren't qualified to do all legal work. Immigration law is a very specific field of law and one can't assume that county council would be qualified to perform that sort of legal work just because they are a lawyer. Most lawyers specialize in a particular field and wouldn't be qualified to represent someone in something they are not well versed in. (Frr the record, I am a lawyer).

Anonymous said...

2:04 - Don't expect a life-long dilettante to understand the concepts of specialization and expertise.

Anonymous said...

What's also not mentioned in the Post article is the real reason that Montgomery County is hiring an outside attorney.

It's not to help the thousands of illegal aliens in Montgomery County.

Montgomery County is hiring the outside counsel to protect the county council members and the county executive. They've all stepped way over the line and have every reason to feat that they -- the county council members themselves -- will be targeted by ICE for aiding and abetting illegal aliens.

Anonymous said...

"the county council members [could] be targeted by ICE for aiding and abetting illegal aliens."

You don't have the slightest idea of how our federal and state governments work.

Robert Dyer said...

2:04: Yes - and that was exactly my point: Hansen is well-qualified to advise on compliance with federal immigration law. So the hire of the special attorney is clearly for some extracurricular purpose - political publicity stunts like filing briefs in national court cases that have nothing to do with Montgomery County, etc.

There's a reason Culpeper County isn't hiring an expensive immigration attorney. Jurisdictions don't need one to deal with basic compliance issues. Culpeper just happens to have had more private sector job growth than Montgomery County since 2000. Maybe in small part because they don't spend their taxpayers' money and time on national partisan politics.

G. Money said...

Oh good, now Dyer's a legal expert too. We can only hope this goes as well as his attempts at statistical analysis.

Robert Dyer said...

4:12: If I'm not an expert, then maybe you can tell me how many other jurisdictions in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia have hired an attorney serving specifically as an immigration lawyer besides Montgomery County? Hint: We are the exception, not the rule.

That's bad enough, but then you add in that they're hiring the guy before knowing his hourly rate. Compared to the County Council in that context, yes, I would qualify as a legal expert.

Think about how many time those legal eagles on the Council have lost in court because they did something un-Constitutional, and you'll have to admit no one would ever call those clowns "legal experts."

Anonymous said...

"they're hiring the guy before knowing his hourly rate."

Oh, Dyer... you are just stuck on stupid. Turque's article was published on Monday morning. Why do you keep assuming that the salary wasn't finalized by the time the actual vote took place?

Robert Dyer said...

5:48: "Stuck on stupid" - sorry, the Council has the market cornered on that.

Anonymous said...

2:38: How I agree! I am so disgusted with Montgomery County and its corrupt council. I have been living in this county for 14 years now and seen it declining. 'Sanctuary City' status is a foolish and ill-thought out position which has been untenable. It is destroying our public schools and bringing crime and gang activity to our overcrowded, gridlocked streets.