CC PACKET 03011983 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

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