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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, December 07, 2009 Page 18 e. Approve City Manager's Appointments and Authorize City Manager to en- ter into Contracts with Firms to provide Civil and Prosecuting Legal Ser- vices City Manager Bill Malinen provided a summary of the Request for Council Ac- tion dated December 7, 2009 as detailed. Mr. Malinen reviewed the adoption by the City Council of the Professional Ser- vices Policy to ensure consistency; and the initiation of the Best Overall Value Process for this selection process through development of an RFQ and RFP to those interested firms, utilizing staff leaving previously trained in that process. Mr. Malinen advised that it had been an intensive process, with interest received and mandatory attendance at an informational meeting of ten firms for Civil and six firms for Prosecution services, with subsequent proposals received from five firms for Civil and two for Prosecution. Mr. Malinen reviewed the interview process and subsequent staff recommendations .based on this rating done by code and remaining anonymous. Mr. Malinen recommended the appointment of the firm of Jensen, Bell, Converse & Erickson, P. A. for both City Attorney services and City Prosecution services. Councilmember Ihlan, related to process, requested that the City Council be pro- vided access to the proposals to determine the competition and scoring compari- sons to allow her to get a sense of the qualifications of the proposing firms and how the process proceeded, in addition to making them public to allow public comment before the City Council took their vote on appointment. Councilmem- ber Ihlan asked if there had been any potential conflicts of interest with one firm providing both services, specifically in working with the City's Code of Ethics should any complaints arise related to their Attorney services. Caroline Bell-Beckman, representing Jensen, Bell, Converse & Erickson, P.A. Mr. Beckman thanked the City for the opportunity to work with them. Ms. Beckman advised that, in the past, their firm had handled both civil and criminal work; and that there was no legal conflict.. Ms. Beckman further advised that, in the event of possible Ethics complaints against City officials, their office would have a conflict, as would any firm, since it represented the City; and that agreements were in place with other suburban prosecutors to facilitate those situa- tions and provide representation, which was done on a regular basis. Ms. Beckman advised the City Council that their firm was in the process of mov- ing from downtown St. Paul to Roseville Towers, even though a negotiated lease was pending, and that this was due to the economics affecting legal firms. Ms. Beckman further noted that the firm may be changing its name, but the personnel