Explanation
BACKGROUND: The Columbus City Attorney’s Office faces an ongoing conflict of interest pertaining to the need to conduct probable cause evaluations and represent the City in the prosecution of City employees of the Columbus Division of Police for criminal wrongdoing associated with the police response to George Floyd protests occurring in the City beginning in late May 2020. The City Attorney deemed it in the best interest of the City to assign a Special Prosecutor to such matters so as to avoid the conflict of interest and to assure the independence of the review and litigation process. The City Attorney engaged Kathleen Garber, Attorney at Law, on August 10, 2020 and in exchange for said services, the City agreed to pay Ms. Garber up to $15,000 which was subsequently modified on January 31, 2021 to up to $30,000 to account for the expansion of the scope of Ms. Garber’s services which had occurred on October 7, 2020, modified again on April 12, 2021 per Ordinance No. 0860-2021 passed on April 5, 2021, to allow for continued representation, and modified again on November 17, 2021 per Ordinance No. 2536-2021 passed on October 25, 2021. This legislation will authorize the assignment of all past, present, and future business done by the Columbus City Attorney’s Office with Kathleen Garber, Attorney at Law to Kathleen Garber Law LLC. This change will reflect a name change and federal identification number change for all contracts and purchase orders established with Kathleen Garber by the Columbus City Attorney’s Office. All other terms and conditions will remain the same. This additional modification is needed as well as emergency action to continue this representation uninterrupted.
FISCAL IMPACT: This contract modification will be funded by the City Attorney’s Office. The amount of the contract modification is $50,000.00. The total amount of this contract, as modified, is $138,000.00.
COMPANY: Kathleen Garber Law, LLC. FID: 862064640, CC041604, ex...
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