Ray Heise? Not Quite Retired

First Oak Park officials throw him a retirement party at the ; then they create a.

But after all of that, it looks like will be around for a bit longer.

Trustees on Monday unanimously approved a one-year agreement to hire the village’s former long-time lawyer as a contract attorney. The village will pay him $135 an hour for as many as 300 hours of work — a total of $40,500 — so he can wrap up some of the projects he was working on when he retired June 30.

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The agreement will end June 30, 2012 and can only be renewed with approval by Village Manager Tom Barwin, with consultation of acting village attorney Simone Boutet, and the Board of Trustees. The vote to renew the contract would have to be conducted in open session. Heise also would have to get his own malpractice insurance.

Trustee Adam Salzman, who was just elected to the Board in April, wanted to keep a tight leash on how legal fees will be spent.

“I understand the need for the manager and acting village attorney to have operational flexibility because the board is seeking and receiving legal advice on the taxpayers’ dime,” Salzman said. “But we need to know the tab as the tax is being run up rather than after the fact. We need to be on top of the situation.”

Robert Tucker, who was elected with Salzman, said the Reinventing Government Committee would help assess the village attorney position and how services will be provided.

Village President David Pope noted that the board had to be mindful that Boutet was only one person working in the legal department at this time. Boutet has worked in Oak Park for a decade.

Heise retired June 30 after more than 35 years of service with Oak Park. He spent time as a law clerk with Oak Park in 1975, became village prosecutor in 1976 and was later promoted to assistant village attorney and, in 1984, became village attorney, the post he's held ever since.

He's allowed to work under contract, but there are restrictions on how much work he can do so as to not affect his pension. The Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund sets out guidelines for retirees who return to any kind of work.

, another attorney who handled work for the plan commission and other committees, also retired this year.

The original agreement, which was up for discussion Monday, was even more wide-ranging. Heise would have been allowed to work as many as 599 hours, for a total of $80,865. “Legal work outside the scope of the projects will be assigned in writing by the Village Manager or Acting Attorney. The use of e-mail will be sufficient for this purpose,” according to the agreement.

Heise’s legal work will be limited to:

• /Sertus Redevelopment Agreement – preparing an amended redevelopment agreement, attend Village Board meetings as necessary related to the project and prepare amendments to the Planned Development Ordinance.
• Advising the Board on TIF-related redevelopment projects, including the proposed Morningside and Clark Street Development proposals. Prepare any necessary documents.
• Participate in and monitor the District 200 litigation and advise the Board.
• Advise the Board and staff with regard to any proposed handgun ordinance changes. Prepare any recommended ordinance.
• Finalize currently pendingordinance changes.
• Completion of the Percent for Art ordinance.

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