(A) Establishment. There is hereby established the office of City Attorney.
(B) Appointment and qualifications. The Mayor, with the approval of City Council, shall appoint a City Attorney who shall be the general law officer and legal counsel of the city. The Mayor may remove the City Attorney at will. He or she shall be an attorney licensed to practice in the commonwealth. He or she shall be chosen solely on the basis of his or her legal qualifications, with special emphasis on actual experience in or knowledge of the commonwealth’s municipal and administrative law. The City Attorney may also engage in the private practice of law and may hold other public or private employment.
(C) Duties and powers. The City Attorney shall perform the following duties:
(1) Attend regular and special Council meetings;
(2) Prepare city ordinances as directed by City Council;
(3) Provide legal advice to City Council and the Mayor; and
(4) Prepare monthly report for Council. Extra duties to be paid at a rate mutually agreed upon.
(D) Compensation for extraordinary services. In addition to the salary fixed for City Attorney by annual ordinance of City Council, the City Attorney shall receive additional compensation as an independent contractor for all extraordinary services, including appearances in legal actions and administrative proceedings and hearings involving the city, municipal bond issues, real estate acquisitions and dispositions and other matters beyond the scope of usual legal counsel to the city or requiring an unusual amount of time. For such extraordinary services, the City Attorney shall be paid reasonable fees commensurate with the amount and value of time devoted thereto, based upon charges made by other attorneys for comparable legal services.
(E) Oath and bond. No person shall be appointed or act as City Attorney unless such person has taken the oath required by § 228 of the Constitution of the commonwealth and has provided a bond in the sum as established by City Council, with corporate surety authorized to transact business in the commonwealth and conditioned upon the performance of the duties specified herein.
(1997 Code, § 31.38) (Ord. 6-1-99, passed 7-3-1999)