Title
Dept/ Agency: Law
Action: ( ) Ratifying (X) Authorizing (X) Amending
Type of Service: Professional Services Contract
Purpose: To add additional Special Municipal Prosecutors
Entity Name: See Names and Addresses below under Additional Information
Entity Address: See Names and Addresses below under Additional Information
Contract Amount: No Increase in original contract amount of $126,000.00
Funding Source: City of Newark, Law Department
Contract Period: (upon adoption through December 31, 2014)
Contract Basis: ( ) Bid ( ) State Vendor (X) Prof. Ser. ( ) EUS
(X) Fair & Open (X) No Reportable Contributions ( ) RFP (X) RFQ
( ) Private Sale ( ) Grant ( ) Sub-recipient ( ) n/a
Additional Information:
1. Lysander D. Uzzell, Jr., 244 Harlech Way, Somerset, New Jersey 08873;
2. Khabirah H. Myers, Esq. d/b/a Law Offices of Khabirah Myers, LLC, 38 Scheerer Avenue, Newark, New Jersey 07112;
3. Keith C. Harvest, 43 Pleasant Way, Montclair, New Jersey 07042;
4. Charlotte L. Smith, 31 Brandywyne Drive, Florham Park, New Jersey 07932;
5. Yvette Gibbons, Esq. d/b/a Law Offices of Yvette Gibbons, LLC, 471 Shearer Avenue, Union, New Jersey 07083
body
WHEREAS, the City of Newark operates a Municipal Court and engages attorneys as Special Municipal Prosecutors; and
WHEREAS, the Corporation Counsel, as authorized by Resolution 7R7-x December 18, 2013, entered into an open-ended multiple attorney (seven attorneys) contract for the period of January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014 in an amount not to exceed One Hundred Twenty-Six Thousand Dollars ($126,000.00); and
WHEREAS, Special Municipal Prosecutors maintain private practices and are not always available, therefore, there exists a need to expand the pool of Special Municipal Prosecutors which shall ensure adequate coverage of the Courts; and
WHEREAS, the City of Newark issued a Request for Qualifications on or about April 4, 2014, seeking to amend the current contract to add Special Municipal Prosecutors to the current pool of Special Municipal Prosecutors to commence upon adoption of this resolution and terminate on December 31, 2014; and
WHEREAS, the City of Newark received a total of seven (7) proposals in response to its request; and
WHEREAS, the City of Newark wishes to amend its previous open-ended multiple-vendor contract to add the following five (5) additional Special Municipal Prosecutors to be used in the City of Newark's sole discretion on an "as needed" basis during the term of the original contract:
1. Lysander D. Uzzell, Jr., 244 Harlech Way, Somerset, New Jersey 08873;
2. Khabirah H. Myers, Esq. d/b/a Law Offices of Khabirah Myers, LLC, 38 Scheerer Avenue, Newark, New Jersey 07112;
3. Keith C. Harvest, 43 Pleasant Way, Montclair, New Jersey 07042;
4. Charlotte L. Smith, 31 Brandywyne Drive, Florham Park, New Jersey 07932; and
5. Yvette Gibbons, Esq. d/b/a Law Offices of Yvette Gibbons, LLC, 471 Shearer Avenue, Union, New Jersey 07083; and
WHEREAS, legal services are professional services and are exempt from the requirements for public bidding pursuant to the Local Public Contracts Law, more specifically, N.J.S.A. 40A:11-5(1)(a)(i); and
WHEREAS, the City of Newark will benefit from, and is in need of, additional Special Municipal Prosecutors; and
WHEREAS, the City of Newark is desirous of acquiring such legal services as fair and open contracts pursuant to the provisions of the Local Pay- to-Play Statute, N.J.S.A. 19:44A-20.5; and
WHEREAS, the Local Public Contracts Law (N.J.S.A. 40A:11-1 et seq.) requires that notice of the award of contracts for "Professional Services" without competitive bidding must be published in a local newspaper; and
WHEREAS, each vendor has completed and submitted a Political Contribution Disclosure Form which certifies that each has not made any reportable contributions to a political or candidate committee in the City of Newark in the previous one year, and that the contract will prohibit each vendor from making any prohibited contributions through the term of the contract; and
WHEREAS, the original cumulative amount of compensation for all of the vendors awarded contracts under this multiple award contract shall not be increased (not to exceed One Hundred Twenty-Six Thousand Dollars ($126,000.00)) for the contract term; and
WHEREAS, each vendor shall expressly acknowledge and agree that services may be required from any and/or all of the single vendors with no single vendor receiving any promise or guarantee of minimum compensation except for a flat daily fee of $250.00 per session should such service be required; and
WHEREAS, this amendment is being awarded as a fair and open contract pursuant to N.J.S.A. 19:44A-20.5; and
WHEREAS, the Mayor of the City of Newark signed into law Executive Order Number MEO-07-0001 (hereinafter "Pay-to-Play Executive Order"), which requires reporting of political contributions to Newark Municipal Candidates and prohibits certain political contributions during the duration of the contract; and
WHEREAS, the Municipal Council adopted the Contractor Pay-to-Play Reform Ordinance, 6PSF-a, August 1, 2012, which forbids the award of a contract to a Business Entity, as defined therein, which has made or solicited political contributions to Newark Municipal and County of Essex Candidates, office holders having ultimate responsibility for the award of a contract; candidate committees of the aforementioned candidates; and political or political party committees of the City of Newark or County of Essex; and continuing political committees or political action committees regularly engaged in the support of the City of Newark municipal or County of Essex elections; and certain other political party or candidate committees, in excess of certain thresholds.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, THAT:
1. The Mayor of the City of Newark and/or his designee, the Corporation Counsel, are hereby authorized and directed on behalf of the City of Newark to execute and amend the current seven (7) Special Municipal Prosecutor contract with:
i. John Zunic, 216 Anderson Avenue, Fairview, New Jersey 07022;
ii. Gracia Robert Montilus, Esq., d/b/a GRM Legal Works LLC, 76 South Orange Avenue, Suite 109, South Orange, New Jersey 07079;
iii. Steven R. Hummell, Esq., 1055 River Road, Edgewater, New Jersey 07020;
iv. Cherelle C. Tolor, Esq., d/b/a Law Office of Cherelle C. Tolor, LLC, 28 Sherman Place, Irvington, New Jersey 07111;
v. Andrew B. Vallejos, Esq., 200 Mercer Street (Route 33), Suite D, Hightstown, New Jersey 08520;
vi. Gisel J. Ortiz, Esq., d/b/a Law Offices of Gisel J. Ortiz, LLC, 17 Academy Street, Suite 615, Newark, New Jersey 07102; and
vii. Daniel A. Serratelli, Esq. 172 New York Avenue, Newark, New Jersey 07105;
to add the following five (5) attorneys to provide legal services in the capacity as Special Municipal Prosecutor:
viii. Lysander D. Uzzell, Jr., 244 Harlech Way, Somerset, New Jersey 08873
ix. Khabirah H. Myers, Esq. d/b/a Law Offices of Khabirah Myers, LLC, 38 Scheerer Avenue, Newark, New Jersey 07112
x. Keith C. Harvest, 43 Pleasant Way, Montclair, New Jersey 07042
xi. Charlotte L. Smith, 31 Brandywyne Drive, Florham Park, New Jersey 07932
xii. Yvette Gibbons, Esq. d/b/a Law Offices of Yvette Gibbons, LLC, 471 Shearer Avenue, Union, New Jersey 07083
2. This is a multiple award contract and no vendor shall have any expectation as to minimum compensation under this multiple award. All attorneys referenced above shall execute the amended contract.
3. Services may be required from any and/or all of the single vendors; however, the cumulative amount of compensation for all of the vendors shall not exceed One Hundred and Twenty-Six Thousand Dollars ($126,000.00) for the period commencing upon adoption to December 31, 2014.
4. These contracts are being awarded pursuant to the fair and open procedures of the State Pay-to-Play Law (N.J.S.A. 19:44A-20.5) and pursuant to the provisions of the Local Public Contracts Law (N.J.S.A. 40A:11-5(1)(a)(i)) and is in compliance with Executive Order MEO-07-0001, effective March 31, 2007 and the Business Entity has certified that it has not made or solicited a contribution in violation of the Contractor Pay-to-Play Reform Ordinance, PSF-a, August 1, 2013.
5. All other terms and conditions of the contract shall remain the same.
6. A copy of the executed Amended Contract herein authorized shall be filed in the Office of the City Clerk by the Corporation Counsel and shall be made available for public inspection.
7. A notice of this action shall be published in the newspaper authorized by law to publish a legal advertisement and as required by law within ten (10) days of the adoption of this resolution.
STATEMENT
This Resolution authorizes the Mayor of the City of Newark and/or his designee, the Corporation Counsel, to enter into and execute an amended open-ended multiple vendor contract to add Lysander D. Uzzell, Jr., 244 Harlech Way, Somerset, New Jersey 08873; Khabirah H. Myers, Esq. d/b/a Law Offices of Khabirah Myers, LLC, 38 Scheerer Avenue, Newark, New Jersey 07112; Keith C. Harvest, 43 Pleasant Way, Montclair, New Jersey 07042; Charlotte L. Smith, 31 Brandywyne Drive, Florham Park, New Jersey 07932; Yvette Gibbons, Esq. d/b/a Law Offices of Yvette Gibbons, LLC, 471 Shearer Avenue, Union, New Jersey 07083, as additional Special Municipal Prosecutors to be used in the City of Newark's sole discretion on an "as needed" basis for the period commencing upon adoption to December 31, 2014.