The Carmel City Council is not wasting any time in starting the search for a new city attorney.
Just three days after Don Freeman announced he is retiring from the post he’s held since 1984, the council announced a special meeting at 4:30pm on Wednesday to discuss selecting his successor.
A city staff report released Friday recommends the city council appoint an ad hoc committee of two City Council members to facilitate a selection process.
The report also recommends the council work with staff to develop a request for qualifications by March 3, 2017.
Freeman has worked under contract for 33 years and is not a city employee. His most recent contract, dated Sept. 1, 2015, lists his compensation at $10,500 a month, plus $250 an hour for “extraordinary” duties, such as preparing complicated documents.
There is currently no job description for the position. The contract lists a “scope of work and duties” that include things like attending City Council meetings, providing legal advice, preparing legal documents and being available for telephone consultations with staff and council members.
The report to council says that understanding how municipal enterprise works, and municipal law, “is a theme that is at the heart of being a city attorney.”
Some of the knowledge the city attorney should possess includes things like land use law, state meeting act laws, and civil service laws and regulations.
“Due to the nature of individuals to file suit against local government, demonstrated experience with civil (tort) litigation is also very important,” the report states.
Freeman made his announcement during the Feb. 7 City Council meeting, just a few weeks after he denied rumors circulating around town that he was stepping down.
Freeman also serves as the city attorney for the City of Seaside. City Manager Craig Malin says Freeman has not indicated he is retiring there. The 2016-17 Seaside budget lists the cost of “professional/contractual services” for the city attorney at $43,000.
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