Council selects candidates for legal services
Candidates for Fort Myers Beach Town Attorney will be vetted for legal services next month.
On Monday, Beach Council discussed and determined the selection of applicants to interview and set the tentative timeframe to meet each person individually (private) and collectively (public meeting) during one day in September once all are contacted and a mutual date is agreed upon.
Strangely, only four candidates applied for the position. All four were approved to be interviewed.
The submissions for consideration are current Town Attorney Derek Rooney, who has an office in Fort Myers; Dawn Perry-Lehnert, whose office is in Cape Coral; Jed Schneck, whose office is in Boca Raton; and former FMB Town Manager Marsha Segal-George, whose office is in Orlando.
“I was very disappointed that we only received four applications,” said Councilwoman Rexann Hosafros. “Bonita Springs had literally dozens of applications. I just feel puzzled by this.”
Once the day is set for interviews, a candidate is expected to be chosen during those 24 hours.
“I personally believe we should handle this all in one day – interview each one individually if we wish to talk to them and then talk to them as a group,” said Beach Mayor Anita Cereceda. “At their earliest convenience, let’s interview all four. And, then we are going to decide that same day.”
Councilman Alan Mandel would have liked to shorten the list to two candidates before the interview process.
“I would like to narrow it down to two and eliminate the two that are from a great distance away,” he said. “I think if you are a great distance away it is hard to come here when you might be needed. I can’t believe that in someway the cost will not reflect the fact that they are a great distance away.”
Other than the short break, Rooney has been the lead Town legal representative since near the beginning of 2014. Since September 2014, Rooney has worked under an as-demanded retainer. Shortly before that, he had switched law firms, going from Town legal representative under Fowler White Boggs to Gray Robinson.
In April, Council approved new terms for a revised legal services agreement that included a $7,500 monthly retainer and an hourly rate ($215 per hour for partners, $150 for associates, $125 for qualified paralegal) for requested services outside the retainer. Retainer services included preparation; travel; attendance at up to five meetings per month; office hours held on meeting days; and review of legal materials and phone calls with Council members, Town manager and Town staff involving Town related business.
At the time, Council was considering an in-house attorney for legal services.
Since he was hired, Rooney has worked with Town staff on a number of ongoing issues, including revisions to the Town’s land development regulations and procedures, Charter review and resolving numerous litigations of “great potential exposure” to the Town. Gray Robinson has nearly 300 attorneys available as resources.
Perry-Lehnert is another Florida Board Certified attorney and has 22 years of experience in Southwest Florida. She was assistant County attorney for the Lee County Board of County Commissioners from 1993 to 2015. She was an associate attorney for Harry Blair in Fort Myers for three years prior to that.
In her resume, Perry-Lehnert lists contract drafting/negotiation, land use development, regulatory compliance, administrative hearings, real property transactions, title insurance policies/endorsements, plat/land survey review and legal research and analysis as core strengths. Her proposed fee structure includes an attorney hourly rate of $125 per hour. She does offer an in-house counsel option at an annual salary of $100,000, plus benefits.
Schneck is a self-starting attorney that owns his own law firm, Schneck Legal, and has provided legal and governmental consulting services throughout the states of Florida and Pennsylvania. He was also an assistant county attorney at Lee County Attorney’s Office, where he advised Lee County, Lee County Port Authority, Lee County Metropolitan Planning Organization and Southwest Florida Expressway Authority from 2005 to 2011.
In his resume, Schneck stated he would be “the contact point and the dedicated attorney responsible for the overall coordination, oversight and quality control” of the legal services and that his entire career that began in 2002 has “focused exclusively on local, state and federal government law and policy issues impacting coastal communities in Florida.” He offers a set, fixed fee of $3,500 per month, including all non-litigation related costs and expenses.
Segal-George is quite familiar with Fort Myers Beach. She was the Town’s first manager after incorporation and served from 1994 to 2006. She said she carries the Town history by “offering a connection to the beginning and assistance for the future” and developed, implemented and published the philosophy of “Government Lite.” In her cover letter, she expressed that the “Town needs to be prepared for a very different and challenging future.”
In her resume, she states she has particular experience in land use and knowledge both as a manager and a lawyer in Lee County. She was the Lee County manager from 1989 to 1991 and has been employed under Fowler, O’Quinn, Feeney & Sneed since 2008. She did not provide a proposed fee structure.