Long faces emerged from a closed-door meeting earlier this week after the City Council discussed a lawsuit that will require five of the seven council members to be questioned under oath in coming weeks.

They’ll be asked about their votes in November to deny Developmental Services of Nebraska its request to add a fourth resident to three of its Lincoln group homes.

DSN provides services to people with developmental disabilities in Kearney, Lincoln and Omaha.

Later during the open portion of the meeting, some council members expressed irritation with the city attorney’s office and ultimately voted to hire their own attorney in the case.

The company has sued the city over regulations it imposes on group homes, claiming they’re discriminatory and that the city fails to provide housing accommodations required by federal law. 

DSN subpoenaed council members’ laptop computers late last year as part of  its federal lawsuit against the city, which was filed in 2004. The upcoming depositions are for the same lawsuit.

The city had claimed it didn’t have to provide information from the laptops because the council was immune, but a federal (CORRECT??) judge ruled council members weren’t immune.

The judge denied DSN’s request to do a forensic examination of council members’ laptops, but did require the city to turn over a list of Web sites the council members visited during the meeting when they turned down DSN’s request.

The council voted 5-2 to deny DSN after a tense public hearing in which the company’s finances were scrutinized, including the $36,000 Cadillac the company provides its CEO, Scott LeFevre.

Now the five council members who voted against DSN will be deposed soon. Most likely off the hook are Ken Svoboda and Robin Eschliman, who voted in favor of DSN.

City Attorney Dana Roper declined to comment on the council’s closed-door meeting Monday.

But council members’ frustration was palpable when the issue came up during the open portion of their meeting later that morning.

Councilman Jonathan Cook  made a motion to hire Lincoln attorney Vince Powers to represent them in the lawsuit, using unspent dollars in the council’s budget.

Cook said an outside attorney would be able to file motions on the council members’ behalf, and “assert our privileges.”

“Vince is very qualified… and I want someone very qualified,” Cook said. “I want good legal counsel that I can talk to… rather than someone I have to worry about talking to, which is the case right now with the city attorney.”

Councilman Jon Camp said that would be a “needless expense of city money” and Svoboda questioned the need to hire an attorney rather than use the city attorney.

Councilwoman Patte Newman said the city attorney is representing the city, not the individual council members.

The council voted 5-2 to hire Powers, with Camp and Svoboda voting no.

Svoboda said Tuesday that the vote indicates a lack of trust in the city’s law department, although he said he couldn’t go into detail.

“There’s a misunderstanding between the law department and several council members as to the course of action,” he said. “The issue stems from who’s going to be able to provide the best legal counsel.”

DSN’s attorney, Scott Moore, was surprised to hear the council voted to hire a private lawyer. 

“The attorneys that represent them right now are good attorneys,” he said, and speculated about the cause of the rift, saying, “If you’re going to ignore the law you’re not going to get the answers you want.”

Svoboda is concerned, however, that DSN’s success in hauling council members in for depositions will set a precedent.

“Every single time you make a vote of controversy, are you gonna be sued over that matter?” he said. “I think it makes it very difficult for council members to continue doing their jobs.”

Councilman Dan Marvin said he’s not “particularly upset” about his upcoming deposition.

“I didn’t know when I got the job (on the council) that I was going to get hauled into court and have depositions taken,” he said. “I think that this is simply a tactic that is more common with elected officials, to harass them with lawsuits.”

Moore said he understood the council members’ frustration over having to be deposed, but noted  the city has put DSN through a burdensome, expensive process in its quest to provide housing for people with disabilities.

“When a lawsuit is filed, you end up doing things that you didn’t sign up for as a City Council member,” he said. “(But) if their testimony wasn’t relevant I wouldn’t be taking the depositions.”

The case is scheduled to go to trial on July 31, although that date could get pushed back.

Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.