Veteran lawyer rejects job offer
Immediately after the Dacono City Council voted 4 -1 to hire Rick Samson as interim city attorney this week, the Longmontbased lawyer turned down the offer.
Unless the council’s decision was unanimous, Samson and his partners had no interest in legally representing the city, even on an interim basis.
“What we are not willing to do is to work for a divided council,” Samson said during Wednesday’s council meeting. “I’m too old to deal with that.”
Samson’s principal areas of practice include: municipal, business, real estate, probate and estate planning law, according to council documents.
At times during his 33-year career, he has also provided legal representation to Frederick, Lyons, Mead and other Colorado towns.
Former Dacono City Attorney Kathleen Kelly informed the council on Feb. 14 that her firm, Kelly PC, would no longer represent the city beginning April 15. Kelly provided her firm’s notice of resignation the day after Mayor Pro Tem Kathryn Wittman, along with council members Danny Long, Jackie Thomas and Jim Turini, voted to abruptly fire former City Manager AJ Euckert without offering any explanation as to why.
Wittman, Long, Thomas and Turini, all voted to appoint Samson during Wednesday’s meeting.
“It’s a sad day for Dacono when a candidate of such quality background feels that we are not worth a headache of dysfunction,” Turini said in an email Thursday. “This is disappointing, and not the governance our city deserves. We need to accept olive branches and work together for the good of the people.”
Councilor Doris Crespo cast the lone “no” vote concerning Samson’s appointment. Crespo did not elaborate on her vote during Wednesday’s meeting and in a follow-up email Friday said, “At this time, I have no comment.”
However, Crespo was not the only one with reservations about Samson.
Mayor Adam Morehead, who only votes in the event of a tie, took issue with the fact that Thomas, who will face a recall election on June 27 along with Turini, called Samson to see if he was interested in the interim city attorney position.
Morehead also had concerns about Samson’s past performance as Frederick’s attorney and his overall philosophy on the role of a city attorney.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Samson said his job as a municipal attorney is to “protect my board,” referring to a board of trustees or city council.
“I disagree,” Morehead said in response. “I think the primary job of the city attorney is to protect the city.”
The city council is scheduled to meet again, without an interim city attorney present, on Monday.
The meeting’s agenda does not include any items related to possibly hiring legal representation.
“Not having an experienced city attorney like Rick Samson, especially in the difficult times we are going through, is unacceptable for Dacono,” Thomas said in an email Thursday.
“While disappointed, I will not be discouraged and I am committed to not only moving forward from this meeting, but in continuing to engage citizens in a vision for the city that puts them first and is not bogged down in discord.”