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With respect to the first question, Mr. Tellum said that law firms can now track, via the computer, whether the firm had a conflict of interest. He said that any such system was limited in its ability to pick up conflicts because the data bases involved included names, not issues. Further research was required. He had reviewed the disclosure letters sent by the City's legal counsel to both the City and the party it proposed to represent, and it was his judgment that the firm had followed the ethics rules that govern lawyers' conduct in Oregon in making the appropriate disclosures. Mr. Johnson concluded the staff presentation by saying he believed the City's best legal representation was to be acquired from outside counsel. He said he would continue to use outside counsel for the City of Eugene. Regarding costs, Mr. Johnson believed the costs paid to the outside firm were competitive with the costs paid by other comparable jurisdictions. Regarding the issue of conflict of interests, he said that the work done by Messrs. Tellum and Fraser indicated to him that the City's law firm was following the applicable ethics rules. Returning to the issue of competitive solicitation, Mr. Johnson reiterated that there were many examples of local jurisdictions with long-standing relationships with one legal firm, so the City's situation was not unique. However, he believed that there were advantages to some form of competitive solicitation, so when the current contract with the City's legal counsel expired, he would go through a competitive solicitation process. Mr. Johnson noted that such a process was already underway for criminal prosecution services. Mr. Lee asked what Mr. Tellum defined as the "appropriate procedures in place to recognize a conflict of interest." He asked if there was a universal definition of "appropriate procedures." Mr. Tellum said that there is no universal definition. Lawyers are held to a standard of care to their clients as fiduciaries, and the rules build in a reasonable knowledge of potential conflicts when they may arise. He said that the state of the art was the type of computer program system the law firm described in its communication to the City Manager, and such a system is about the best that could be done now. Mr. Kelly stated his comments were not intended to be a criticism of individuals, noting that the assistance he had received from City Attorney Glenn Klein had been very valuable and was appreciated. He expressed appreciation to Mr. Johnson regarding his conclusion about competitive solicitation and asked Mr. Johnson to inform the council of the results of the process. Mr. Kelly said that the issue of conflict of interest for him was not about professional standards but about public perception and basic human nature. He said that it was troubling to him when a firm represented a business that may be in an adversarial role with the City on some issue and then, the next day, attempted to represent the City on the same or related issue against that business. Mr. Kelly said that the issue was different from contracting for other services, such as computer services. An attorney had a guiding role in the development of policy, and if the council did not hear about a legal possibility from its attorney, it was unlikely to learn about it on its own. What he termed "the central effect on policy making" was an issue to him. He distinguished between a situation where two private clients of a law firm were in conflict and a situation where one of the clients in conflict was a government entity. Mr. Kelly said that the law was the foundation of the City's work, and the City Attorney had a critical role in shaping that law. He suggested that former MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 10, 1999 Page 10 5:30 p.m.