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Council considers hiring Hinman Straub LLC for constitutional counsel; some members request scope visibility
Summary
Council introduced authorization for the mayor to sign a contract with Hinman Straub LLC for constitutional legal services not to exceed $25,000; council members requested circulation of the draft scope and earlier submissions to Attorney General staff before a vote.
Council introduced an authorization for the mayor to retain Hinman Straub LLC as special constitutional counsel, with a proposed not-to-exceed amount of $25,000. A commissioner summarized the vendor review: staff interviewed one sole practitioner and three firms, ranking Kevin Gagnon first, Harris Beach second and Hinman Straub next; the recommendation emphasized Hinman Straub’s lower hourly rate as a cost factor: "Hinman Straub, if you look at their proposals, there's a cost benefit for using Hinman Straub. I think it's $250 an hour versus $325 an hour." (transcript paraphrase).
Council staff reported they had prepared a 12-page point-by-point response for the Attorney General’s staff and said they would circulate the draft response and scope documents to council members prior to any vote. Several commissioners asked to see the assessment and scope of engagement before approving the contract so that voting members could understand the work they would be authorizing.
Speakers listed for attribution: speaker 3 (commissioner summarizing firm interviews), speaker 6 (staff reporting on Attorney General exchanges).
