City of Kuna hires two new city attorneys

The city of Kuna has a new city attorney — two city attorneys, actually.
Kuna City Council members last week approved a contract to hire lawyers Richard A. Johnson and Richard T. Roats to serve as city attorneys. They will be paid $100,000 per year.
They replace city attorney Randy Grove, who resigned last month, citing conflicts with his role in the formation and execution of the local improvement district. That issue appears headed for a lawsuit, and Grove said he would find it difficult to serve as counsel to the city and as a witness in the matter. His last day was Nov. 6.
Grove’s salary was $93,540, but health benefits pushed the cost to the city well over $100,000. A $100,000 contract without health benefits actually saves the city money, according to Kuna Mayor Scott Dowdy.
Dowdy said he received inquiries from a number of candidates interested in the position. Dowdy said that he, city engineer Gordon Law and city planning director Steve Hasson interviewed three of the candidates, and all three agreed independently that Johnson and Roats were the top candidates.

You can read the rest of this, including the backgrounds on Roats and Johnson, in my Editor's Notebook in this week's Kuna Melba News.