Blog Post: An Open Letter To Whitey On Legal Services

Mr Willauer:

I would never suppose to lecture someone as experienced in the workings of government as you. But I would ask that you please consider a few things before making a decision on which legal firm to choose to do the work of the town of Nantucket.

Politics.

There is no doubt that the move to remove Deutsch Williams from Nantucket's Town Counsel position is politically motivated. It's rather transparent, actually. One faction on Nantucket has been very successful at getting things done, partly by working well with Paul DeRensis. The opposing faction does not like this and sees the removal of DeRensis as a key to blocking many of the initiatives of their rivals. If you vote with the opposing faction, do you really want to be painted with this political brush? 

Policy.

It's good policy to take a look at legal costs. We've done that and we found that given a certain amount of prudence and oversight on the part of the town and selectmen, our costs are actually pretty low. It's good policy to test the waters and see what options are available to the town. We've done that, too. Now we need to choose the legal firm that is best of Nantucket. And that's not necessarily a new firm. 

History.

Paul DeRensis has been town counsel for Nantucket for 24 years. And in that time he has served the town extremely well. Through a number of changes in leadership. From a period of small local government to a much larger one. He has seen the changes the island has gone though and knows our special municipal idiosyncrasies. Paul DeRensis is also a multi-term Selectman in his own town of Sherborn, MA. He knows his stuff. Please do not undervalue the worth of this level of institutional memory, dedication and experience. 

Speaking of dedication.

Spend any time talking with Paul DeRensis and one thing becomes perfectly clear. The man loves Nantucket. He knows the people. He understands our uniqueness. And he has worked tirelessly to bring good government to the island. Not just because he's been town counsel for 24 years, but also because he owns a seasonal home here. He's a stakeholder in many ways. This level of dedication is priceless. 

A bird in the hand.

I'm sure Kopelman and Paige is an excellent law firm. But the "bird in the hand" rule applies here. With Paul DeRensis you know what you're getting. You have a long track record. You've got a known quantity. With any other firm there will be growing pains, stops and starts and misfires. Will Leonard Kopelman be flying down to Nantucket to attend meetings every other week? Will he sit at town meeting for three or four or five nights? I seriously doubt it. At least not at a low hourly rate, he won't. His value to his firm is far too great for him to spend time in traffic on Route 3 let alone spend time overnight in a little room at the Jared Coffin House billing a fraction of what he normally bills. Kopelman has no love of Nantucket like Paul does. How can he? He is more likely dedicated to his end-of-the year profit sharing, and he's not going to get that servicing our account under the terms of his current bid. So how much is that really going to cost us? Besides the bird in the hand axiom, you might also want to consider another old saying: If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. 

Think about it. Thanks. 

— Grant Sanders

PS: At the very least, I would hope that you would ask the chair of the BOS to recuse herself from this vote because of the obvious conflict of interest she has with replacing Deutsch Williams. Deutsch Williams recently counseled the Land Bank to not spend over $2 million dollars for property owned by the Dreamland Foundation which employs our current chair. She publicly criticized their decision in the I&M, implying that their opinion was not good policy (which it clearly is). Would a new law firm be more likely to favor the purchase? The town deserves a far more transparent and cleanly adjudicated legal review process. And Paul DeRensis deserves more for his 24 years of service than to be railroaded in this obviously political manner.