Dover City Council members said they will reissue the request for qualifications for city solicitor/legal services after one of two previously solicited candidates withdrew, and outlined a roughly five-week timeline from posting to proposal opening.

The move to repost followed discussion of outreach and advertising tactics. Barry, a city staff member involved with the solicitation, said, "I just need to make some edits to the original document, changing some dates and the RFP number, and we can have it back out again next week." Barry explained that the usual schedule is to advertise once a week for two weeks, allow a one-week question-and-answer period, then open proposals the week after that — about five weeks from posting to opening.

Council members discussed broader outreach beyond the standard newspaper notice. Staff said previous solicitations were emailed to attorneys whose contact information came from bar association lists and were advertised in the Delaware State News. Councilmembers suggested additional circulation through the Delaware Bar Association, Kent County bar lists, the city personnel website and law-industry publications; one member noted that the News Journal had quoted advertising fees that were high and that a legal trade publication might better reach attorneys.

Members also debated whether to pursue a contracted law firm or create an in-house legal position. One councilmember, David (council member), said the city could "do that for 400,000," arguing that hiring an internal attorney plus support staff could be cost-competitive; other members countered that staff benefits, pensions and facilities would likely make in-house counsel more expensive and that no single candidate is likely to cover every legal specialty the city needs. Several councilmembers urged a formal cost analysis before deciding to shift to a permanent in-house office.

A proposal to appoint Miss Ballard as acting solicitor or deputy for the year was raised; some members supported considering her as an option but others warned of appearance-of-conflict concerns and reiterated that any appointment should follow the open process. Council members emphasized that the reissued RFQ would allow current employees, including Miss Ballard, to apply and be considered on equal terms.

By the end of the discussion the council agreed to repost the solicitation and to circulate it broadly; no formal roll-call vote on the reposting was recorded in the transcript. The meeting closed with a motion to adjourn, which was seconded and approved by voice vote.

Staff next steps described in the meeting: revise the document for updated dates and RFP/RFQ identifiers, advertise once weekly for two weeks, run a one-week Q&A period, and open proposals the following week — a total of about five weeks from posting to opening, assuming the document is posted the week staff said it could be.