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He stated in Lino Lakes, it is more of a corporate law firm approach, noting Lino Lakes paid <br />$35,000 per year so they have cut back the number of hours and put more onus on staff to <br />address legal issues. City Administrator Ulrich stated Ramsey has professional staff that can <br />handle a lot of that but Couri & Ruppe may be a better working relationship. He stated Mr. <br />Couri bringing up the Red Wing issue against RRM may have been a good tactic but would have <br />been questionable if RRM did not have a chance to respond. He agreed with comments that <br />RRM has a bigger pool to draw from and could be used more for personnel issues since they do <br />not exclude personnel issues over three hours. City Administrator Ulrich stated dollar for dollar, <br />it will be cheaper to go with RRM but it is a different level of service and relationship in not <br />being as close. <br />City Clerk Thieling stated both firms are very personable. She found Mr. Couri to be more staff <br />oriented as far as "I'm here if you need me." City Clerk Thieling stated Mr. Langel indicated <br />along the lines of "there are things you can figure out because you know what you are doing," <br />showing confidence in staff. She stated in dealing with both over the past couple of weeks, she <br />likes them both. <br />Development Services Manager Gladhill stated if price was not a consideration, he would lean <br />towards Mr. Couri but he had not thought about the comment of Councilmember Backous <br />relating to the reason for making the change so he is now leaning away from Couri & Ruppe but <br />remains in the middle. <br />Councilmember Tossey stated he supports RRM but that is not a slight on Couri & Ruppe. He <br />noted Councilmember Backous pushed him more toward RRM in saying if the Council wanted a <br />Couri & Ruppe type of firm, it should have stayed with Randall, Goodrich & Haag for civil <br />work. He stated he thinks RRM will provide the type of firm the City needs for the future. <br />Councilmember Backous stated he understands that everyone likes Randall, Goodrich & Haag <br />but the City needs someone to "go to bat" for the City and stand before the judge on the City's <br />behalf. <br />Mayor Strommen stated the City needs someone it can talk to, trust, and if needed, "go to bat." <br />Councilmember LeTourneau stated the City can work with either firm, they were similar in that <br />regard. <br />City Administrator Ulrich noted the references all stated both were trusted firms, personable, and <br />represented their city well. <br />Mayor Strommen stated tonight's conversation shows this is a tough decision, the two firms are <br />very close, but a slight preference for RRM has been voiced, primarily because it is a different <br />type of firm than the City has had. She found there are pros and cons for both. <br />Councilmember LeTourneau agreed that there is consensus supporting RRM. <br />Mayor Strommen stated she is comfortable with either firm. <br />City Council Work Session / June 4, 2013 <br />Page 11 of 22 <br />