City Attorney Helene Leichter is on leave once more, having
returned briefly after a month-long leave from early February to
mid-March.
City Attorney Helene Leichter is on leave once more, having returned briefly after a month-long leave from early February to mid-March.
The first leave began after a routine performance review with the City Council on Feb. 2.
Leichter attended the council meeting on March 23 but went on leave again shortly thereafter. As before, no one at City Hall or on the council will comment on why she is away, when she is expected back or who initiated the leave.
City Manager Ed Tewes said he, too, could not comment.
Human Resources Director Mary Kaye Fisher said the silence is normal.
“As with any city employee, leave information is confidential,” Fisher said Friday.
Attorneys Dan K. Siegel and Bill McClure are sharing city attorney duties during Leic-hter’s leaves.
They are partners in the Menlo Park firm of Jorgenson, Siegel, McClure & Flegel, the firm for which Leichter worked before being hired as Morgan Hill city attorney Sept. 1, 2000.
Fisher said she did not know what financial arrangement the city has made to pay for replacing the city attorney temporarily.
Siegel was on vacation and McClure did not respond to a request for information on the financial arrangements by press time.
Mayor Dennis Kennedy said Friday that the city has a contract with the Menlo Park firm for legal work and advice up to $20,000.
“We’ve asked Jorgenson, Siegel, McClure & Flegel, to put together cost numbers for us,” Kennedy said, “but I don’t think they have done this yet.
We had an open contract up to $20,000 but need to amend that since it has been exceeded for a variety of projects.
Leichter’s last employment contract was signed in April 2003 and extends through Sept. 1, 2005. Since July 2004 her base salary has been $137,350.
Carol Holzgrafe covers City Hall for The Times. She can be reached by e-mail at ch********@*************es.com or by p honing (408) 779-4106 Ext. 201.
