The attorney for the Birmingham Water Works Board is out of a job with unanimous votes to cancel his affiliations, including a controversial long-term contract that paid him $660,000 annually.

The board Monday evening ended its relationship with Mark Parnell. Board member Jeffrey Brumlow led the effort to terminate him.

“We’ve got to have good counsel, and we’ve got to have counsel that everyone trusts,” Brumlow said.

Parnell’s removal comes after public and internal outrage over his contract, an arrangement that was approved by the former board just a day before Governor Kay Ivey signed the law that kicked them out of office.

The now cancelled five-year contract made Parnell the utility’s deputy general manager and general counsel, a post that would pay him a base of $660,000 a year plus lucrative benefits. The value of the package exceeds $3 million.

Brumlow was frank in his assessment.

“After the way the contract went down with Mr. Parnell, it did not inspire confidence in me,” he told AL.com after the vote. “Once I read that contract and saw what it did, that was a slap in the face to the ratepayers, to the employees, to the pensioners, to this board. It was incredibly one-sided and if a lawyer will do that to the board, I can’t have you around, I’m sorry.”

Parnell was not in the meeting Monday evening. AL.com efforts to reach him were unsuccessful.

In Parnell’s place, the board hired three outside firms, Porter, Porter and Hassenger, Paden and Paden and attorney Reginald D. McDaniel.

Porter and Porter is headed by attorney James Porter, who is also a former president of the National Rifle Association. Paden and Paden is led by Shan Paden, a former longtime Bessemer city attorney. Reginald McDaniel is a Birmingham attorney of longstanding.

The water works now pay those new lawyers hundreds of dollars per hour, for each of the attorneys handling the utility’s business.

The utility will pay $400 an hour for Jim Porter and $300 an hour for an associate. The representative from Paden and Paden will also be paid $400 an hour. McDaniel also will receive $400 an hour.

Brumlow and Hudson are clearly familiar with their new attorney Porter. Before the vote to hire him, Porter was declared as ‘parliamentarian’ and then sat between Brumlow and Hudson to confer with them.

The majority of the board also wants a closer examination of the utility’s operation and past actions.

Members also agreed to ask the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts to audit the utility’s books.

Board member Rep. David Standridge, who proposed the audit, said the action would answer public questions and skepticism regarding the utility.

“When we get that report we will know where we’re at, where we stand and then, we can move forward,” Standridge said. “We want to do things the right way, we want things checked, and then we’ll know where we are at.”

In addition to asking state auditors to look at previous actions, the board also authorized its new lawyers to seek requests for proposals to hire an accounting firm to conduct a forensic audit of the utility.

That passed on a 5-2 vote with board members Jarvis Patton and Sheila Tyson voting no. Patton had previously pushed back on the need for so many audits and requests for action without dollar amounts estimated. Most of the other items passed unanimously.

The board did not discuss any compensation or severance for Parnell.

His now-voided contract included what some would call a “golden parachute” provision, as it requires a supermajority of the five new board members to vote in order to terminate Parnell. And even then, the contract says they would have to pay him the full amount left in his contract – due in 30 days.

At the least, the board must pay Parnell a minimum of two-years’ worth of his contract to end his employment, regardless of the amount left on the agreement, according to the contract. That amounts to more than $1.3 million.

Brumlow, who is also a municipal attorney, shrugged when asked about a possible legal challenge following Parnell’s termination.

“We’ll see,” he said. “We’ll see.”