By Robert Anglen
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Martin

After paying Washington, D.C., lawyer Billy Martin more than $1 million over the past 15 months, Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken said "it may be time for Billy to go."

Mr. Luken said Monday that city lawyers should be able to handle any issues remaining with two landmark settlements that Mr. Martin helped negotiate to improve community-police relations.

"My inclination is that we can handle this situation from here on," he said. "He has delivered a valuable service. We may be at a point where we can have our own legal staff handle this in the future."

Mr. Luken said he agreed with a request by Councilwoman Minette Cooper two weeks ago to review Mr. Martin's bills.

Mr. Martin's firm has cost taxpayers an average of $68,963 a month since June 2001.

His bills are far more than the $55,000 submitted by Dr. Alan Kalmanoff, the Berkeley, Calif., lawyer appointed by a federal judge to monitor massive reforms in the city's police department.

Dr. Kalmanoff resigned as monitor last week after a month on the job. He was sharply criticized by council members, who questioned bills that included charging for media interviews, meeting with city officials, packing for travel and reviewing e-mails.

Ms. Cooper said Monday that she has been concerned about Mr. Martin's bills for months. But until Dr. Kalmanoff gave the city his $55,000 bill, she had been unable to convince other council members it was important.

Ms. Cooper said she has been unable to obtain Mr. Martin's itemized expenses from city lawyers.

"Nobody (on council) has been interested in the information. I have been asking about this for three months. I wouldn't let this go."

Other council members said they were unaware of Mr. Martin's total bill, but they agreed that the city should review contracts with outside lawyers. City Manager Valerie Lemmie said the city is creating a handbook for hiring outside lawyers that will outline what expenses the city will and won't pay.

"We have gotten real lax about our lawyers," Ms. Cooper said. "We can't just pay attention to the little guys and not pay attention to the big guys."

Under terms of the two settlements - which ended a U.S. Department of Justice probe of the police department and suspended a civil rights lawsuit against the city that accused police of discrimination - the city is required to pay the monitor's bills. The monitor's job is to oversee the police department's overhaul of training, use-of-force, and citizen complaint procedures.

Mr. Martin's firm - Dyer, Ellis & Joseph - was hired to lead the city's settlement efforts after the April 2001 riots. A former U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., Mr. Martin has been charging the city a discounted rate of $225 an hour, saying he wants to help the city in its race relations.

Mr. Luken said that since the settlement, Mr. Martin has provided ongoing help with the settlements, including negotiating details with the Department of Justice.

"I believe that Mr. Martin has been indispensable at times in the process," Mr. Luken said.

E-mail ranglen@enquirer.com

Sunday's story: Lawyer's bill tops monitor's