After 39 years of service to the City of Long Beach, City
Attorney Robert Shannon has retired. The City Attorney is elected by the voters
every four years (without term limits) which is unique in California as most
City Attorneys are appointed. (City councils directly appoint the city attorney
in 464 of California’s 478 incorporated cities.
Of those, approximately two-thirds
are contract city attorneys from outside firms; the remaining one-third are
hired as in-house city attorneys. Voters directly elect their city attorney in
eleven charter cities and city managers appoint the city attorney in three
charter cities.)
The City Attorney's Office consists of 68 employees,
including 21 attorneys. Their duties are set forth in the City's Charter, which
provides that the City Attorney shall be the sole and exclusive legal advisor
of the City, City Council and all City commissions, committees, officers and
employees. He/she is charged with municipal legal responsibilities as complex
as any in the state.
The City Attorney must be a resident of Long Beach.
When a City Attorney leaves office before the completion of
his or her term of office (Shannon’s term ends in 2014), the City Charter and
Municipal Code provide that the City Council shall designate an Assistant City
Attorney or Deputy City Attorney, who shall become the Acting City Attorney and
shall serve in that position until the City Council appoints a successor for
the unexpired balance of the term. Any person serving as Acting City Attorney
must possess the qualifications prescribed for the City Attorney.
Upon Shannon’s retirement, the City Council selected
Assistant City Attorney Charles Parkin as Acting City Attorney. Mr. Parkin is a
resident of Long Beach and has been serving in the City Attorney’s office since
1995 and as Assistant City Attorney since 2012.
There are 12 months remaining for the balance of the term
for the City Attorney and there are some on the City Council who are advocating
to solicit resumes and to have the City Clerk and the Human Resources Director review
the resumes and recommend 5 candidates to the City Council for interview. The
interview process would take place in closed session out of the view of the
public. (see link to League of California Cities suggested ways to recruit and
select a contract City Attorney.
This process would make sense to replace a City Manager who
is employed directly by the City Council, but not for a City Attorney.
Selecting a successor City Attorney who is not currently employed in the Long
Beach City Attorney’s office is asking for trouble, especially when you see the
list of pending litigation and other legal matters currently being handled by
the Office of City Attorney.
Some argue that whomever the City Council selects will have
an advantage in the 2014 election for City Attorney. This may be unavoidable
but the City Council should not make this situation any more political by soliciting
resumes from potential candidates. (Applicants cannot be prohibited from
seeking public office if chosen because of First Amendment rights.)
What is
more important is that the Office of City Attorney continue to work on the
issues pending. For this reason, I agree with outgoing City Attorney Robert
Shannon (see link to his memo http://www.scribd.com/doc/151986665/Memo-From-City-Attorney-on-Replacement-00000
) that the City Council should leave in
place the current Assistant City Attorney, Charles Parkin, until the voters
elect a new City Attorney.
