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Council adopts 40/60 weighting for municipal legal services RFP; staff to use two‑step shortlist and interview process
Summary
Council directed staff to issue an RFP for municipal legal services with a two‑step procurement calendar (shortlist then interviews) and voted to weight written proposals at 40% and interviews at 60% when ranking finalists for negotiation and selection.
Council reviewed a proposed request for proposals (RFP) for municipal legal services and directed staff to proceed with a two‑step procurement approach: use an initial written‑response ranking to create a shortlist and then interview the top firms.
City staff (Mark Loeser, general services administrator) explained that Virginia procurement rules limit how price can be used in evaluations and outlined a draft calendar sending the RFP on a prompt schedule, using the May 6 meeting to create a shortlist and then interviewing top candidates before returning with a negotiated agreement. He recommended shortlisting and then interviewing three finalists.
Council discussed whether to seek a law firm or an individual city attorney and noted tradeoffs: firms offer broader specialty depth but potentially higher cost; an individual might offer continuity in the meeting room. Staff noted the draft RFP was for a one‑year base contract with options to renew and a 60‑day termination clause.
After discussion of weighting and approach, council voted to change the RFP ranking weight to 40% written response and 60% interview performance. Staff said they will revise the calendar to accommodate interviews and will require that team members who would work the account appear at interviews (to avoid selling teams that will not perform the work). Staff anticipates an aggressive negotiation schedule to complete an agreement within the proposed calendar window.
