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-4- <br /> " \ The Manager and Police Chief discussed the problems with continuity in <br /> the prosecution area, which the Police Department experiences with the <br /> Dorsey Firm' s practice of using young attorneys for, the City pro- <br /> - � secutions to give them Court experience. Chief Hickerson confirmed <br /> that there had been instances where the attorneys handling the City 's <br /> prosecutions had failed to comply with the 36 hour rule for charging <br /> prisoners and those prisoners had been released and failed to reappear <br /> when the case was reinstated, which in turn, -.resulted-in the additional <br /> administrative costs to the -City of getting the offenders back to <br /> Court. Th Chief told Councilman Ranallo the complaint isnot that <br /> there .have. been so many cases lost, but rather it is the amount of time <br /> involved in administration which frustrates the City police. They <br /> have not, however, reported having too much trouble with plea bar- <br /> gaining, he said.. Two local legal firms had actively sought the <br /> opportunity to submit proposals for the City ' s prosecution work and <br /> one of these firms , Johnson & Doran, 4111 Central Avenue N.E. , was <br /> represented by Bernard Johnson and James Doran at the meeting. Council- <br /> man Marks commented. that, even though the fees to be charged by the <br /> Dorsey Firm and these firms would- be equal, he believes the Council <br /> should also taken into the 'account the extra costof administration <br /> with the existing system, when .a decision is made as to which firm <br /> would perform the prosecution duties for the City . <br /> Councilman Ranallo questioned why this matter had come before the <br /> Council "all of a sudden" , and why only two local firms had been <br /> requested to submit proposals when there are so many other law firms <br /> represented by City residents . He would like to have letters sent to <br />/':• all such attorneys inviting them to. submit proposals and .the same <br /> selection procedure followed as the City uses in selecting a financial <br /> 'consultant. The Councilman indicated he did not perceive he had <br /> enough information to make a decision that evening. <br /> Mr. Childs responded that he had followed the procedure that staff <br /> has historically used in selecting names of engineering firms for <br /> Council consideration and said .that .if that policy should be. changed, <br /> some discussion is necessary to . clarify ,the Council ' s desires about <br /> the process . The Manager indicated he doesn't perceive a strong dis- <br /> approval of the Dorsey' s handling of the prosecution work, but rather <br /> a desire to obtain more consistent service for the same costs . Mayor <br /> Sundland indicated he believes trying to make a decision based only on <br /> pricing fees could be a "real headache" for the Council. <br /> Councilman Enrooth indicated he would not -favor 'expending so much money <br /> on the type of mailing which had been suggested since many attorneys <br /> would not be interested in the prosecution work anyway. He sees the <br /> Council trying to equate dollars with professional expertise and <br /> questioned why attorneys should be singled out from other professionals <br /> for special treatment. Mr. Soth agreed prosecution work is very <br /> specialized and that many attorneys don't care for it at all . He <br /> said the trainees in his firm like that work because it gives them <br /> court experience. <br /> ;;• The Mayor indicated he could see no harm in deferring the appointment <br /> to a later Council meeting and inthemeantime, to publicize in the . <br /> Bulletin that the City is selecting a firm to do the prosecution work ` <br />