Sean Kilkenny: Conflict of Interests

Does Sean Kilkenny, Whitemarsh's new solicitor, have time to give us the very best solicitorship that our tax dollars can buy?

Sean Kilkenny is a professional municipal solicitor. He may have a conflict of interest at some point. Why?

Kilkenny is solicitor for Norristown, Conshohocken, Middletown, Springfield (Montgomery), Hatfield, Lansdale, and Whitemarsh, as well as the Montgomery County Controller's Office.

There will, at times, be a conflict of interest. If there is an instance where Whitemarsh has to sue Springfield (we share a border) then, in reality, Kilkenny has to defend us against himself (as Springfield solicitor)...Huh?

Township supervisors appointed another attorney, Matthew Bradford, to mediate such disputes, at a cost of $175/hour. Double HUH????? I thought Kilkenny was our solicitor.

Let me get this straight. Kilkenny is this super-solocitor, who can be solicitor for 7 municipalities and for the Montgomery County controller. If he has a dispute between Whitemarsh and another township he represents, Whitemarsh residents have to foot the bill for another lawyer? This doesn't seem to compute, to this humble resident.

What about the time factor?

"Bruce Horrocks, assistant township manager for Whitemarsh, estimates that the solicitor will work 27.5 hours a week. The job presumably requires around that many hours of work for municipalities of similar size and budget (Conshohocken Recorder 2/23/2008)."

That's 7 x 27.5=192.5 billed hours per week. (based on a 5 day work week, that equals 38.5 hours per day...heck, even if he worked 7 days, I'd like to know how he finds the 3.5 extra hours a day...triple HUHHHHHH??????????)

(On top of his solicitorships, Kilkenny is also a JAG reservist and Jenkintown Borough Councilman. I admire his military service, but still...where does he find the time?)

Heh...let's run with this...192.5 x $175/hr (let's use the Whitemarsh cost as a baseline) = $33687.50 per week, if he puts in all of the hours"required". That's not including the time he puts in as solicitor for the county controller.

Let's assume that there is a minimum of 48 weeks a year, with vacation and holidays factored in. That's $33687.50 x 48= $1,617,000/per year.

Kilkenny cannot possibly be giving the people of the townships he serves the very best that their tax dollars can buy. He's way too overextended in his responsibilities. Whitemarsh Township fired Neil Stein to hire this political appointee.

In actuality, although Kilkenny is the solicitor for a number of municipalities (and the controller's office), he will not do all of the work himself. He will get help from several lawyers in his municipal law department at his Elkins Park-based law firm, Friedman Schuman. This is unacceptable. The solicitor for each and every township and borough listed above is Sean Kilkenny. We're (collectively) not getting Sean Kilkenny.

Whitemarsh should pay the extra $20.00 per hour and rehire Neil Stein. At lease Neil Stein worked for Whitemarsh. We never had to settle for second (or third, fourth or fifth) best.