HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-03-10 ad Hoc Town Counsel Review Committee MinutesAd Hoc Legal Services Review Committee Meeting
March 10, 2004
The meeting convened at 7:30 p.m. in the lower level Town Hall Conference Room, 16
Lowell Street, Reading, Massachusetts. Present were Chairman Richard Schubert,
Members Tom Ryan, Bill Griset, Susan DeMatteo, Camille Anthony and Town Manager
Peter Hechenbleikner.
On motion by Griset seconded by DeMatteo, the Minutes of February 11, 2004 were
approved, as amended, by a vote of 5-0-0.
The Committee reviewed the survey results that were attached to the packet. Susan
DeMatteo handed out the CPDC evaluation. The evaluations of Brackett & Lucas are
generally very good. The Committee commented on the quantity and quality of the
evaluations. The Committee will use those surveys to help develop questions that they
might have for potential Town Counsel candidates.
The Town Manager reviewed the RFP with the Committee. The Committee was
impressed with the number of candidates who have taken out the RFP. They commented
that the first one should be Sanford A. Kowal (A. is the middle initial). They also noted
that Brackett & Lucas was not on the list, and the Town Manager indicated that he
thought they had taken out an RFP.
The Town Manager reviewed the schedule. Proposals will be in on March 15th. The
Town Manager's Office will put together packets for each of the members which consist
of a proposal and an evaluation sheet. They will be distributed to the Committee
members on Monday. On Wednesday, the hope is that we will be able to go through the
proposals with each of the Committee members' evaluations, and narrow the list down to
five or six to be interviewed. Camille Anthony noted, that given the satisfaction with
current Town Counsel, the number to be interviewed may be as few as three. Interviews
will then be scheduled for March 29th and April 1 st, if needed.
The Committee started to talk about questions that they would have for prospective
Counsel. Potential questions included:
1, What do you know about Reading and our need for legal services?
2. Who else do you represent as Town Counsel?
3. How will the Town of Reading have priority for legal services even for
minimal tasks that need to get done?
The Committee will submit those and other questions to the Town Manager by e-mail so
that for Wednesday we will have the beginning of a pretty good list of questions. The
Town Manager will also see if he could find the questions that were asked at the last
evaluation process.
Legal Services Review Committee Meeting - March 10, 2004 - Page 2
There beinji no other business to come before the Committee, on motion by Ryan
seconded by Griset, the Legal Services Review Committee voted to adiourn their
meeting of March 10, 2004 at 8:25 p.m. by a vote of 5-0-0.
Respectfully submitted,
Secretary