I observed a public meeting conducted via Webex on June 2, regarding the hiring of a solicitor for the city of Dover. It was disturbing to hear that one of the two candidates in the running for the job has a potential conflict of interest, due to representing clients who are in litigation with the city. My understanding, from listening to the participants at the meeting, is that partners in the law firm Brockstedt Mandalas Federico currently represent individuals who have litigation against Dover. Questions were raised by some City Council members about whether hiring the firm is ethically sound. While other council members and the mayor feel there is no conflict, and it should be given the green light to represent the city, they didn’t elaborate on whether it could hold on to its current clients suing Dover.
I am not an attorney, but I would have thought that the firm that applied would have looked into the implications of having the dual roles of city solicitor and an office representing clients suing the city, as well as the ethical implications of such an arrangement.
The mayor and City Council should reconsider hiring this firm as the city solicitor, based on the conflicts of interest associated with land deals and real estate acquisitions that involve Brockstedt Mandalas Federico and that could lead to public scrutiny and diminished trust in our local government and burden our taxpayers.
Chris White
Dover
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