Sorensen appointed city attorney

The Red Oak City Council has agreed to a replacement to serve as the city’s attorney.
The move was required following a letter from current City Attorney Tom Stamets that stated Stamets and Josiah Wearin, who own Stamets & Wearin P.C., had decided to close on December 30. Stamets has served as the city’s attorney for roughly 20 years.
Red Oak city administrator Brad Wright said in the wake of Stamets’ retirement announcement, Shenandoah attorney Bri Sorensen, who is currently employed on an as-needed basis by the city while handling nuisance property enforcement matters, was interested in taking over as the city’s attorney. If appointed, Sorensen said her billing practice would remain the same,  a monthly retainer, with an hourly rate.
“I’ve talked with Tom and Bri both, and certainly it would be my recommendation to appoint Bri to fill that position. Tom’s recommendation would be for the appointment to be effective Oct. 1, so we would have some time for transition,”  Wright said. “Tom has a number of files that either need to be transferred or destroyed, and Bri would need to be brought up to date on some of the legal matters that Tom has been involved with over the years.”
Councilperson Brian Bills asked if the best course of action would be for the city to issue a request for proposal for the position.
“I appreciate everything that Bri has done, but I think at this point it would be nice if we could hire someone local,” Bills said.
Wright advised the council that there wasn’t a local attorney in Red Oak who could be hired.
“We have two firms in town. One is in conflict because they’re a magistrate, and the other is in conflict because they’re a county attorney. I’ve talked with the police chief, fire chief, and nuisance officer, and all were in agreement that they hoped Bri would continue to work for us,” Wright explained.
In addition to Sorensen, Stamets sent a list of additional names. When asked by the council, Stamets said he felt Bri would be a good choice as his replacement, and that he submitted the list upon request. While he was comfortable recommending anyone on the list, Stamets said he simply made the list, and hadn’t contacted any of the other suggested candidates to see if they were interested in taking the post.
After hearing the information that there was no other local attorney available to take the position, Bills said his stance had changed.
“I came to the meeting definitely thinking we needed an RFP, but now I’m feeling like we can simply proceed with the appointment. My only issue was exporting money to an attorney outside of town,” commented Bills.
The other members of the council were in agreement with Bills’ stance. The council agreed to appoint Sorensen as the city’s attorney, effective Oct. 1.
The council also agreed to proceed with hiring the Southwest Iowa Planning Council to  update to the city’s comprehensive plan. Wright said a simple approval of the proposal was all that was needed.
“According to SWIPCO, they agreed to hold off on payment until next July,” advised Wright.
The council unanimously approved the proposal from SWIPCO for the updated plan.