Selectmen to discuss review of legal services

Brian Chadwick The subject of hiring an independent firm to review the cost, billing procedures and effectiveness of the town's legal services is on tonight's selectmen's agenda as a discussion topic.

Since the board met with town attorney Paul DeRensis on October 8 to talk about a perceived lack of accountability by his office, spurred in part by a scathing letter of resignation from assistant town manager Malachy Rice that criticized DeRensis' performance, town manager Libby Gibson composed a draft text for a search for an outside comparative analysis of municipal legal services.

Last year DeRensis' Boston firm of Deutsch, Williams, Brooks, DeRensis and Holland was paid $624,930 in town and county funds. DeRensis has failed to submit the requested monthly reports on work conducted under his retainer of $7,900 per month and came under fire at the meeting for billing the town for hours spent in private discussions with individual selectmen.

Though board members were sometimes at odds with one another during the meeting over what is proper procedure in seeking advice from DeRensis, they do not believe that raising these issues and looking into DeRensis' performance and fees is dividing them as a unit.

Patty Roggeveen Calling the investigation "a necessity," selectman Patty Roggeveen said, "It seems there is consensus on it. It makes the most sense. It's the best practice. We should not go through this process without a competitive bid. The contractor needs to work for the town manager and the town manager needs to have a clear understanding as to what the obligation and duties are and who does the gate-keeping. We are paying too much for legal services."

DeRensis has been Nantucket's town counsel for 23 years and is paid as a contractor.

"It is very important for all of us to be friendly with contractors, but there is a protocol to follow," added Roggeveen.

Having challenged selectman Brian Chadwick at the Oct. 8 meeting with driving up the legal billing by seeking counsel from DeRensis, an assertion Chadwick denied, selectman chair Michael Kopko sought advice from DeRensis over the selectmen's access to documents.

The query came after Kopko's request to Rice last summer for a draft report from consultant Mark Abrahams on recommendations for reorganizing and improving functions of the finance department. Rice, along with Gibson, declined to give Kopko that draft saying it was not ready for distribution. DeRensis replied to Kopko's question about obtaining Abraham's interim report via a full-page e-mail on Saturday, June 20.

Michael Kopko In Rice's Sept. 9 letter of resignation, he cited DeRensis in that action for providing "advice that misrepresented the Town Charter in order to support the position of one member of the Board of Selectmen."

A discussion regarding the Abrahams matter is also part of tonight's agenda after a request by Kopko, specifying that the town's agreement with Abrahams be provided for the board's legal services review.

With respect to initiating an independent scrutiny of town legal services, Chadwick said he believes it would be irresponsible to shun the concept of issuing a Request for Proposals to see who else might be able to serve the island government well and at a lower rate.

"If we can get similar legal services for less money then we should take it," he said.

Explaining that DeRensis' retainer is paid to him regardless of what it includes, selectman Rick Atherton said there is a question as to whether the town should be compensating the lawyer for submitting quarterly reports and estimates on handling legal cases.

"I think there is a certain level of irritation with many parties. There have been differences relating to town counsel going back 25 years. There is always somebody who is not happy with town counsel, and that's not unusual," said Atherton. "The idea is to find a system that works better for all parties."

Gibson's draft text for a third party review includes how the town is billed for retainer and non-retainer items; a thorough review of the town's legal costs and how they measure against the costs of comparable municipalities considering Nantucket's high land values; a review of town counsel's recent litigation history and how the town was advised prior to litigation; recommendations for policies and protocol in communicating with town counsel; a review of best management practices for town legal services and interviews with town officials, DeRensis, department heads and others for completion of a final report. I