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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, March 30, 2009 Page 8 12. Business Items (Action Items) 13. Business Items - Presentations/Discussions a. Discuss Professional Services Policy City Manager Malinen provided background material for a discussion of professional services contract changes, to provide further direction to staff in drafting policy lan- guage. Councilmember Roe sought input from staff on professional services; whether the same policy should apply to all professional services, or if there were differences in providing those services that would indicate different policies; and how and when best value contracting would be appropriate. City Manager Malinen noted the appreciable amount of time staff expended in the process, as indicated in the 2008 timeline/process for legal services contracts. Mr. Malinen noted that fifty firms in the metropolitan area were invited to participate in submitting a proposal for legal services, with the Request for Proposals (RFP) process performed every three years; and staff's repeated requests of the City Council as to whether to continue that process, or whether that process and term limits were valu- able and in the City's best interests. Mr. Malinen opined that clearing up the current protracted process, his lack of conviction in the value of term limits being in the City's best interests, and balancing the value of the expertise of existing providers if they remained competitively priced were all necessary steps in streamlining the proc- ess. Discussion included application of such a policy for City Attorney, City Prosecutor and City'Auditors; possible statutory requirements for auditing services not being in- dicated; primary concerns with the current policy being with term limits, with secon- dary concerns being related to whom the policy applies; and how the City's Ethics Code could apply to those firms and their individual commitment to that Code. Councilmember Ihlan noted that past Council action had specifically removed the City Attorney from the scope of the Ethics Code. City Manager Malinen opined that, of those three service providers (City Attorney, Prosecuting Attorney and City Auditor), he would be open to Council directive re- lated to the terms, to whom it applies, and the process indicated. Mr. Malinen noted that the Auditor services are only for a small window of time; however, noted that the City Attorney and City Prosecutor are involved in day-to-day operations of the City, and have more connection with staff. Mr. Malinen sought City Council direction to improve the process that has been followed for the last nine years; while noting the statutory scheme for Plan B Cities in the process for the City Manager selecting the City Attorney and City Prosecutor, with the City Council ratifying those selections.