Ellisville To Hear From City Attorney Candidates Tuesday

The Ellisville City Council meets in a Tuesday night work session and will hear presentations from the firms who have all applied to succeed Paul Martin as the city's next legal counsel.

Martin was dismissed after Mayor Adam Paul was reinstated to his position by a St. Louis County judge who ruled the city's impeachment proceeding against Paul violated Paul's due process rights.

Paul and his allies had long accused Martin of orchestrating the events leading up to the impeachment.

Among those firms interested in the job is Pleban & Petruska. Chet Pleban, a partner in the firm, has represented Paul throughout the impeachment controversy and the resulting legal battles. That includes a case against Martin, City Manager Kevin Bookout and Ward 1 Councilman Matt Pirrello.

Pirrello openly suggested that Paul and Pleban discussed the possiblity of Pleban becoming the city's next attorney in comments to KMOX Radio earlier this month.

Paul has maintained that he was surprised to see Pleban's firm submit a response to the request for city legal services and that he didn't think the firm would have come forward with a proposal if there were a conflict of interest.

Tuesday's meeting, which is open to the public but does not include public comment, starts at 6 p.m. at Ellisville City Hall.