Prince is selected as new City Attorney

Following a debate over whether the city should again explore contracting with an outside law firm for legal services, the city commission Thursday voted 3-2 to hire longtime local attorney Teresa Prince as city attorney.

Prince is a managing partner of the law firm Tomassetti & Prince. She has appeared before the city commission and city advisory boards numerous times mostly in regard to representing clients on real estate matters.

Commissioners Genece Minshew and Tim Poynter favored again opening the hiring process to outside law firms. They voted not to hire Prince Thursday but supported taking a vote at a later date.

"I don't think our two candidates are going anywhere," Minshew said of the city attorney job finalists. "I would like to look at outside law firms and I think we should have more than two options (for the position)."

The city had solicted outside law firms for the position, but only one law firm applied to the request for proposal.  Commissioners had been informed that at least three law firms had not applied because they were not made aware of the RFP.

Prince was a finalist along with Rene Rogers, who is a staff attorney at the Kentucky Real Estate Authority.

But Vice Mayor Darron Ayscue argued that the city attorney position touched every aspect of municipal government and was "the most important job in the city."

He was joined by Mayor James Antun and Commissioner Joyce Tuten in voting to hire Prince.

Prince earned her law degree at the University of Florida and soon after became a legal assistant with the city. She moved to a Tampa law firm but returned to Fernandina Beach in 2012.

She told commissioners her goal was always to be a city attorney with a municipality. Prince was also on the city's rotation list filling in the city attorney position during the absences of City Attorney Tammi Bach.

The next step is for the city commission to approve a contract. Prince said she could assume duties as city attorney in July.

The city has been without a fulltime city attorney since the commission voted 4-1 to terminate Tammi Bach last February. Harrison Poole has been serving as the interim city attorney on a part time basis.