190688

The City of Portland ordains:

Section 1. The Council finds:

1. In 2017, Jeffrey S. Merrick filed a lawsuit against the City in Multnomah County Circuit Court case number 17-CV-32008 (“the Lawsuit”), seeking declaratory and other relief related to a request for public records involving the Office of Management and Finance.

2. In 2018, the Multnomah County Circuit Court entered a general judgment of dismissal with prejudice in favor of the City in the Lawsuit and denied plaintiff’s petition for $52,075.00 in attorney fees; plaintiff appealed from that adverse judgment.

3. On August 4, 2021, the Oregon Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Merrick v. City of Portland, 313 Or. App. 647, 493 P3d 1085 (2021), which reversed the judgment of the trial court and held that plaintiff had prevailed in the Lawsuit and was entitled to an award of attorney fees.

4. On August 25, 2021, plaintiff filed a petition seeking an award of $375,077.70 in attorney fees from the Court of Appeals for work performed on the appeal.

5. The Office of Management and Finance and the City Attorney’s Office recommend the payment of $250,000.00 as a compromise from the full demand in order to resolve the matter without further legal proceedings, with the settlement amount being split between Mr. Merrick and Dunn Carney LLP as follows:

   • $114,500.00 to Jeffrey S. Merrick
   • $135,500.00 to Dunn Carney LLP

NOW, THEREFORE, the Council directs:

1. The Office of Management and Finance and the City Attorney’s Office are hereby authorized to enter into and execute a settlement agreement, in a form substantially similar to Exhibit A attached hereto, to resolve the Lawsuit.
2. The Mayor and the Auditor are hereby authorized to draw and deliver a check in the amount of $114,500.00 made payable to Jeffrey S. Merrick. The funds for such payment shall come from the budget of the Office of Management and Finance.

3. The Mayor and the Auditor are hereby authorized to draw and deliver a check in the amount of $135,500.00 made payable to Dunn Carney LLP. The funds for such payment shall come from the budget of the Office of Management and Finance.

4. If the checks authorized in Paragraphs (B) and (C) herein are not tendered by March 31, 2022, the Office of Management and Finance is hereby authorized to add interest at the legal rate set forth in ORS 82.010 to those payments beginning April 1, 2022.

Section 2. The Council declares that an emergency exists in order to avoid undue and costly delay in settling this matter; therefore, this Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage by the Council.