Gainesville council hires new city attorney

Gainesville Daily Register
ANNA BEALL Staff Writer
March 26, 2023

Gainesville City Council has hired a new city attorney.  

Messer, Fort & McDonald, PLLC will represent Gainesville as City Attorney. This firm specializes in municipal law with locations in Frisco, Abilene, Dallas and Austin.

“Of the three people that applied, two of them are large municipal attorneys that represent municipalities,” said City Manager Barry Sullivan. “One of the benefits of going with a firm is that they generally have almost every type of attorney you need: somebody that specializes in land use, somebody who specializes in certain types of economic development, and others.”

The previous city attorney was Belvin Harris, who stepped into the position in May 2003 and continued until his death this previous Dec. 23. Harris had also acted as Gainesville’s City Attorney from 1965 to 1980.

Other firms considered include Cassidy Hundt Law and Nichols Jackson LLP.

“We reviewed their resumes at the last meeting, so [the council has] been able to look and see,” said Sullivan. “They’ve been presented to [the council], and staff has provided a recommendation.”

The city council also accepted the fiscal audit for 2022 as prepared by Schalk and Smith, Certified Public Accountants. 

After the presentation, Councilmember and Mayor Pro Tem Ken Keeler simplified the key information.

“For our taxpayers and lay people like myself, what I see here is that our team, city employees and departments, our team is doing a very good job of managing our money,” said Keeler, which the presenter confirmed as correct.

“So our team is doing a good job of managing money and taking care of the city,” Keeler continued. “That’s what I was hoping to hear.”