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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br />Monday, July 11, 2016 <br />7:00 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br />Page 23 of 25 <br /> <br /> <br />20. PROSECUTING ATTORNEY – REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) (continued) <br /> <br />Levang stated whether Mr. Potts retires or not is up to him and that she will not hold him to that. Levang <br />stated what makes a difference is that he has done well for Orono and its partner cities. <br /> <br />Levang noted the Orono Police Department feels they have a very good relationship with him and that she <br />is not going to hold him to a short leash. <br /> <br />Levang stated Mr. Potts will be dealing with the police department and the city manager and that the City <br />Council should not be micromanaging. Levang stated if the Council wants, Mr. Potts could report to the <br />Council once a year. <br /> <br />Printup asked what the length of the contract is currently. <br /> <br />Loftus indicated it is a 3-year contract. <br /> <br />Printup stated he was surprised to hear that prosecuting attorneys typically do not report to the Council. <br />Printup stated knowing what the tentative outlook is for this individual, he would error on the side of <br />transitioning to a new prosecutor. <br /> <br />Walsh stated from day one when they discussed going out for RPFs on the city prosecutor, he has wanted <br />to have the termination clause included in the contract. Walsh noted Staff said that they liked the former <br />city engineer but the City still changed engineering firms. Walsh stated the City Council made that <br />decision and not Staff and that the vendors work for the Council and not Staff. Walsh stated in his view <br />the 30-day termination clause is important regardless of who it is. <br /> <br />McMillan stated dealing with a prosecuting attorney and a consulting engineer is very different and that it <br />is not comparing apples to apples. McMillan stated the prosecuting attorney has a whole different <br />relationship with the City Council. McMillan noted when the City changed engineers, they had not done <br />an RFP for approximately 20 to 25 years, and that as a Council they do not deal much with the <br />prosecuting attorney. <br /> <br />Walsh stated he deals with lots of different attorneys and engineers all the time but they are still vendors <br />that are providing a service. <br /> <br />McMillan stated in her view a city attorney is different from a prosecuting attorney as well. <br /> <br />Cornick amended the motion, Levang seconded, to select Kenneth Potts as Orono’s prosecuting <br />attorney and to direct Staff and the City Attorney to begin negotiating a minimum of a 3-year <br />contract, with a 5-year contract being preferred. <br /> <br />Printup asked about the 30-day notice. <br /> <br />Loftus stated Council Member Walsh would like to make sure that there is a termination clause that <br />allows the City some flexibility to terminate the relationship. Loftus stated that is something that Staff is <br />working into most of the City contracts and that they will pay special attention to it with this contract. <br />Loftus noted the new contract will be before the City Council sometime in the fall.