Vol. 2, No. 5
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Jan. 1, 2005
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CRIMINAL DEFENSE |
COPYWRITING
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Reno City Manager In Conflict With City Attorney
Manager's Office Wants Advice Of Outside Attorneys For Community Development Work
While downtown development projects in the heart of Reno continue to flourish, there is a major fight underway between the City Manager's office and the City Attorney. Assistant City Attorney Susan Schlerf circulated a memo recently suggesting the $450,000 that goes to the city attorney's office for community development work might be better spent on outside attorneys.
The city attorney's budget is $3.5 million, while the City Attorney Patricia Lynch is paid $124,301 per year.
The Community Development Department plays a large part in new and upgraded development in the downtown district, processing building applications and inspections as well as working with master planning and engineering.
Currently along the Truckee River district in downtown, a restaurant complex, two condominium projects, and a combination park and commercial development are either in the planning stages, or already being built.
City Manager Charles McNeely says he thinks the two sides will work out their problems. Lynch has been in office for well over 20 years.
At the heart of the conflict, according to Schlerf is the amount of time it takes to receive a legal opinion from Lynch's office. There has been no reaction at this point from the Reno mayor or city council.
McNeely feels it would to the benefit of community development if there were two full time people assigned to the legal department. He says he would feel more confident with outside attorneys.
That was suggested in 1999, but dropped, he said, because he hadn't had time to discuss the issue with Lynch. McNeely has said he has had trouble with the city attorney's office for some time, but did not go into detail.
In the meantime a major project along the Truckee River is about to get underway. The $6,445,174 development of the city plaza park and four-story commercial building will occupy the site of former Mapes Hotel. Alan Gottlieb is the developer.
The four-story building will contain 26,000 square feet of retail space for restaurants, stores, even sidewalk cafes. A park setting that will double as a community ice-skating rink in the winter will be part of the development. The ice-rink will become an amphitheater in the summer months.
Work is expected to begin in May and be completed by November, in time for ice-skating.