Haddonfield Commissioners Chose Iavicoli for Solicitor at $15K More Than Low Bidder

Borough commissioners unanimously agreed to retain long-time borough solicitor, Mario Iavicoli, last week, even though his bid was $20,000 more than the low bid for the job.

Iavocoli, who has been the borough solicitor for the past 33 years, submitted a bid of $75,000 as a flat fee for all solicitor services, including court appearances and attendance of all municipal meetings and counsel for government.

The bid was $5,000 more than fee he had charged for the past several years. The commissioners, Tish Colombi, Ed Borden and Jeff Kasko, decided to rehire Iavicoli, but to keep him at his current rate of $70,000 per year. The decision was made in a commissioners' work session last week.

Iavicoli left the room during the discussion about him and three other applicants who responded to a Request for Proposal for the position. Officials promised to speak with him after the meeting to see if he would agree to stay on at his old rate. That meeting did not happen and he is on vacation this week, a borough official said.

The three-member Board of Commissioners rejected a $55,000, flat-fee bid from attorney Richard De Michele because he did not meet its requirement of at least five years of experience as a municipal solicitor. De Michele, who has been an attorney since 1995, has two years experience as a borough solicitor, in Haddon Heights, and has been a planning and zoning board attorney in Laurel Springs since 2005. De Michele, like Iavicoli, is a Haddonfield resident.

Two other applicants, Eric Bernstein and Stuart Platt, were rejected because they submitted hourly rates and not a flat fee.