At the January 19th regular municipal meeting, council agreed to put out a second Request For Proposal (RFP) for the 2017 municipal labor attorney. The decision was made upon the advice of Borough Attorney Richard Huxford and following a previous article questioning the legality and transparency of the original appointment made at the January 5th reorganization meeting (link).
At that meeting, by a vote of 4-2, council overrode Mayor Carl Hokanson’s appointment of Garrubbo & Capece by amending Resolution 2-17 and appointing Ken Davie from the law firm of Cifelli & Davie by a 4-2. Those members of council who voted for the new appointment – Fahoury, Meola, Shipley, and Storey – did so without explaining how Cifelli & Davie knew to even consider the position or how it the rate was agreed upon. Additionally, the appointment was a mayoral one with confirmation of council and Mayor Hokanson never formally appointed Mr. Davie nor his firm. A final legal concern was in regard to whether council adhered to the state’s Non-Fair and Open process.
The new RFP has a deadline of January 31st for bids and accompanying required documents which will allow a formal vote to be taken on the February 2nd regular meeting.
Until a decision is made on a new appointment, the law firm of Garrubbo & Capece will remain as a holdover position of labor attorney from 2016.
A copy of the revised RFP is included below for reference: