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City of Davenport hires new city attorney

Samuel Huff IV was appointed as Davenport's next corporate counsel with a base salary of $195,000.

DAVENPORT, Iowa — After months of searching, the City of Davenport has hired Samuel Huff IV as its full-time city attorney. 

The change-up started in November 2023, when the city announced former City Attorney Tom Warner's plans to retire. 

Warner left the city at the start of 2024. On that same day, Mayor Mike Matson issued an executive order appointing Assistant City Attorney Brian Heyer as the interim corporation counsel, meaning he was the acting city attorney.

Then, in March, city council considered an agreement to give Heyer a $50,000 bonus once his work as interim corporation counsel finished. They delayed that decision three times.

Before the council could vote, the city announced Heyer's retirement at the end of April. Since then, the city hasn't had an in-house attorney.

That changed Thursday afternoon, when city council agreed to hire its new city attorney.

City council met for a special session to hire Huff at a base salary of $195,000. Interim City Administrator Mallory Merritt detailed the hiring process, which took about three months.

Once the city hired a recruiting agency, Merritt said the agency spoke to city officials and reviewed salaries of similar positions across the Midwest. It returned a salary range of $160,000 to $220,000.

Alderwoman At-Large Jazmin Newton said the city also asked its external legal counsel about the salary range. 

"We were told that it’s certainly within range, taken into consideration what the position pays in other similarly situated cities in size in the state of Iowa and elsewhere," Newton said. 

Newton said rebuilding the legal office should be one of the first priorities for Huff.

"Certainly we need someone that’s going to handle the city’s legal affairs and start rebuilding the legal office," Newton said. "By hopefully, the next step, hiring assistant city attorneys."

The recruiting agency offered the city six candidates for additional interviews. Merritt said the formal interview process included a city tour, an elected official panel and a staff panel. 

Ultimately, city leaders chose Huff as the best fit for the job.

"I would say that the majority of the panelists that were involved supported the candidate that's been put forward," Merritt said.

According to the employment agreement, Huff will receive $250 a month for a car allowance, and another $150 a month as a business allowance. That's a total of nearly $5,000 a year.

The same recruiting agency is searching for a new city administrator to replace Mallory Merritt, who is in her role on an interim basis. She plans to leave the position on Aug. 16.

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