Mechanicville looking for lawyer
City seeking charter amendment to hire nonresident for position
The city is looking for a lawyer.
In order to hire from a larger pool of applicants that live beyond the city limits, the city is seeking to amend its charter’s residency requirements.
“We don’t have residents who are attorneys and if there are we don’t have anyone who is interested,” Mayor Dennis Baker said. “So we just need to look outside the city.”
Currently, Baker said, the city charter requires hires to live in the city. Bills moving through the state Senate and Assembly would waive the requirement for hiring an attorney who lives within the city limits, allowing it to look throughout Saratoga County and into adjoining counties.
The bill notes that the city has been trying fill the attorney position since Dec. 31 and has had trouble finding qualified candidates.
The change, Baker said, is minor and does not require a public referendum.
The city currently is using a labor attorney from Honeywell Law Firm, Baker said. He also said it is undecided how much the city can afford to pay an attorney.
“We are putting together what we are looking for,” Baker said. “We are looking not to have an individual, but have an attorney group. That is the route we will probably go. The problem is we are not a big city where we can pay somebody $200,000. We are going to try to look out for the city’s interest while we try to hire somebody.”