Summary
To: Mayor Mike Wilkinson & Commissioners
From: JP Murphy, Town Manager
Date: 7/20/2021
______________________________________________________________________
Subject:
Title
Continuation of Discussion of Town Attorney Solicitation
Summary:
The Commission directed me to seek a recruiting firm to assist with the selection of a firm to represent the Town. Subsequent conversations with the commissioners independently expressed concerns over the expense of engaging a recruiter. I devised a third option, whereby staff will let the solicitation, and a separate, non-local law firm will assist with recommendations and background screening. Donovan Roper of Roper & Roper has been engaged to provide recommendations and screening of responsive law firms and candidates. Attached to this item is the firm’s resume that also includes Mr. Roper’s information. The fee for this work is estimated to be less than $2,000.
Background Problem/Discussion:
The bid will be administered by the Town Clerk and myself, given the nature of the appointment. Once the response period is up, Mr. Roper will review the responses and provide a list of qualified, responsive firms with his recommendations. The commission will 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 provided a rough draft of the solicitation language provided in the attachments. I would request any edits from the Commission prior to Friday July 23rd. Additionally, I will create a scoring tool for the Commission to utilize for selection. Following shortlisting Mr. Roper will further evaluate bar complaints, conflicts, etc., to make adequate recommendations to the Commission for their final selection for negotiation.
If there are any specific qualifications or specializations you’d like to see, it is helpful to include that in your solicitation documents-for instance, a firm or attorney with x number of years of experience with land use law. The same might apply to limitations; perhaps you don’t want to engage a firm that is more than 60 miles away from town. Any of these items, if known, are useful to craft a solicitation that might be more responsive to your needs.
Finally, there may be other concerns or matters related to the solicitation that the Commission may wish to discuss or settle during the meeting as it decides how to proceed. Please see the attached draft solicitation language as an outline of what a rough sample procurement might look like.