Saugus school board takes a gamble on attorney retainer

SAUGUS-The School Committee voted unanimously Thursday to take a gamble by forgoing the use of billable hours and putting its attorney on retainer.School Committee attorney Phil Boyle had asked the committee last month to consider the idea of using a $30,000 per year retainer for the next three years. Billing at $200 an hour, that gives the committee 150 hours per year of Boyle’s time.Manville told committee members Boyle would settle for two years if they thought three years was too long.Only committee member Wendy Reed seemed torn by the decision.”This is a hard decision,” she said. “Both are good. I don’t see a bad side either way. I really don’t know how to vote on this.”Committee member Frederick Doucette said looking at past expenses, the retainer seemed like a good idea.Superintendent Keith Manville said Boyle’s legal fees only dipped below $30,000 once in the last five years.”Assuming his rates don’t change, we think this makes economic sense,” Manville said.Doucette said he thought using a retainer had an additional advantage in that people would not hesitate to call Boyle out financial concern.”I don’t want to have to worry that my call could negatively impact the budget,” he said. “I think this is a good move.”Along with the retainer, Boyle has also promised training in administration, dealing with sexual harassment issues as well as discipline and discharge.Committee member Christine Wilson said given the fact that Boyle’s rates would likely rise and that he’s thrown in the two training seminars, she also thought it was a good deal.Wilson pointed out that the deal could be revisited in two years and they might find out it doesn’t work for Boyle.”He may find out he doesn’t like it either,” she said. “He might look at it and say he’s spending was too much time in Saugus.”School Committee Chairman Joseph Malone said he thought having a fixed cost to put in the budget would be a huge advantage and Reed said she would vote with the committee.