Summary
To: Mayor Mike Wilkinson & Commissioners
From: JP Murphy, Town Manager
Date: 6/11/2021
______________________________________________________________________
Subject:
Title
Town Attorney Solicitation
Summary:
At the last commission meeting, the Commission moved to open solicitation for Town Attorney services. In order to administer the solicitation, I have several questions that require commission direction.
1. Would you like town staff to handle the solicitation, or would you prefer to hire a professional recruiter to represent you?
The benefits of professional recruitment include having an independent party provide review and background screening, extensive advertisement, as well as provide professional guidance. Of course, there is a cost attached to this consulting work. Initial estimates are in the $25,000 to $32,000 dollar range.
If staff were to administer the bid, it would likely be administered by the Town Clerk and myself, given the nature of the appointment. I would suggest that the Commission be responsible for the shortlisting of candidates, and it would need to do so in a public hearing as well as host public meetings for interviews, leading to ultimate selection. I have cobbled together a rough sample of solicitation language provided in the attachments. I would request edits from the Commission for their approval prior to offering the solicitation. Additionally, I would need to create a scoring tool for the Commission to utilize. The collection of the responses is relatively easy. However, I'm not certain we have the time or expertise on staff to review background information, bar complaints, pending legal matters, etc., to make adequate recommendations to the Commission beyond the simple provision of the information. The Commission may want to consider an independent professional or volunteer to assist in that effort or take up the matter themselves. Again, we can do it; I just want to be transparent as to the limitations of staff....
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