|
clients. As a part of the firm's comprehensive representation of public entities, we also
<br />have a dedicated employment law attorney available to the City.
<br />Proposed Lead Attorney
<br />The proposed lead City Attorney is Pamela J. F. Whitmore. Pam is a shareholder and
<br />municipal attorney with Eckberg Lammers. She is also a Rule 114 Qualified Neutral and
<br />lead attorney for our firms Conflict Management Solutions practice.
<br />Pam has over fifteen years of experience representing municipalities in all areas of
<br />general municipal law, litigation, land use, labor and employment, Open Meeting Laws,
<br />data practice laws, social media use by employees and elected officials, meeting
<br />management, and structures of cities and governance. Pam currently serves as the
<br />Assistant City Attorney for Blaine and special counsel for North Mankato.
<br />Prior to joining Eckberg Lammers, Pam spent 5 years with the League of Minnesota Cities
<br />and the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust. While there, she guided cities,
<br />elected officials, and city attorneys on all facets of municipal law. Pam traveled across the
<br />state working with member cities on conflict management, communication, roles, meeting
<br />management and governance. Pam has extensive experience advising councils both in
<br />and out of meetings, including general contract review, drafting of ordinances and
<br />regulations, following and advising on trends and legislation. Pam additionally served as
<br />the primary content expert for Open Meeting Law, Meeting Management, Roles,
<br />Governance and Social Media Issues for the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust
<br />while an attorney there. During this time, she worked closely with lobbyists identifying
<br />trends, and served as main point of contact during negotiations regarding proposed
<br />legislation for use for Right of Way and public assets. While at the League, Pam worked
<br />with municipalities that ranged in size, from a couple hundred residents to over 100,000
<br />residents. These municipalities included statutory A & B cities, as well as Charter Cities.
<br />Before working at the League, Pam acquired in-depth litigation experience working on
<br />behalf of cities, counties, school districts, and pp
<br />townships. She has appeared in both state
<br />and federal court as well as the Minnesota Court of Appeals on a variety of claims against
<br />municipalities. Many of those matters involved defending cities in various land use
<br />matters (variances, conditional use permits, interim use permits, spot zoning, inverse
<br />condemnation, easements, trespass, road use and improvements, assessment actions,
<br />condemnation challenges), employment matters, including defending claims of
<br />discrimination, sexual harassment, negligent hiring, negligent supervision, hostile work
<br />environment, alleged Americans with Disability Act violations and civil rights claims. In
<br />this role, Pam defended cities, as well as counties and respect townships. With to the civil
<br />rights claims, Pam worked with closely with police departments and sheriffs' offices. A
<br />few examples include:
<br />• In the Matter of Application McDuffee (Minn. App. 2008): Successfully defended
<br />Township's decision to grant conditional use permit to dog breeding facility.
<br />• Steinke v. Columbus Township (Minn. App. 2007): Successfully defended challenge to
<br />Township's assessment on landowners' property for water project.
<br />
|