City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council authorize the City Attorney’s Office to enter into a
Legal Services Agreement with Aleshire & Wynder, LLP (“Aleshire & Wynder”).
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS:
On June 6, 2006, the City Council approved a continuing agreement with the firm of
Kane Ballmer & Berkman (“KBB”) to provide legal services on an as-needed basis.
This firm has provided these legal services to the City since 1989 on matters relating
to public contracting, insurance, elections, liability claims and litigation, and land use
issues, including the Sony development agreement, valuable cross-training for in-
house deputy city attorneys and, most recently, the Cranks/Tellefson hillside
litigation. Specifically, attorney Joseph Pannone’s experience and institutional
knowledge in these areas has positive outcomes for the City. In addition, attorney
Stephanie Scher has provided valuable assistance regarding various municipal
finance and election issues. As new issues present themselves, attorneys Pannone
and Scher have always been available and provided a quick response.
Last December, the City Attorney’s Office (the “Office”) was notified that attorneys
Pannone, Scher and June Ailin would be leaving KBB and joining the firm of Aleshire
& Wynder effective January 1, 2007. By approving the new agreement with Aleshire
& Wynder, Council will ensure continuity in the handling of certain pending matters
Meeting Date: 02/12/2007 Item Number: C-5
AGENDA ITEM: Authorization to Enter into a Legal Services Agreement with
Aleshire & Wynder, LLP.
Contact Person/Dept.: Carol Schwab/City
Attorney
Phone Number: (310) 253-5660
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [] Attachments: [X]
Public Notification: Master Notification List; Aleshire & Wynder, LLP (02/07/07).
Department Approval:
Carol Schwab, City Attorney (02/07/07)
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (02/07/07)
City Controller Approval:
Marlee Chang (02/07/07)
City Manager Approval:
Jerry B. Fulwood (02/08/2007)City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
and continued quality representation from these experienced attorneys in other
issues that may arise.
This firm would be added to our list of available law firms to provide various legal
services on an as-needed basis, with the exception of redevelopment matters, which
will continued to be handled by KBB and other special counsel.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
The hourly rates for legal services provided by the firm of Aleshire & Wynder will be
the same hourly rates charged by KBB. The funding for this agreement is budgeted
in two different budget accounts — the City Attorney’s budget and the Self-Insurance
Fund. The Self-Insurance Fund is used for defense of cases filed against the City,
including land use issues (i.e. Cranks/Tellefson hillside litigation). This fund is
supported by allocations from each department. The City Attorney budget (Legal
Services line item) covers expenses for assistance in transactional work and
advisory opinions.
ATTACHMENT:
1. Aleshire & Wynder Firm Resume (extract)
MOTIONS:
That the City Council:
1. Authorize a Legal Services agreement with the firm of Aleshire & Wynder,
LLP to provide services on an as-needed basis; and
2. Direct the City Attorney to prepare the necessary agreement and
authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement on behalf of the
City.
MEETING DATE: February 12, 2007
AGENDA ITEM: Authorization to Enter into a Legal Services Agreement with
Aleshire & Wynder, LLP.
ATTACHMENTS
Pages
1. Firm Resume (extract) 1-18ALESHIRE WYNDER
Attorneys at Law
1INTRODUCTION AND FIRM RESUME
A. Core Values and Organization
Aleshire & Wynder is dedicated to providing the highest quality of legal services for
public agency clients. Defining our core values is critical both for our attorneys and our clients.
These core values are as follows:
Expertise. Our expertise is very broad and makes us one of the few firms that could handle
the full array of necessary legal services for public agencies.
Accountability. Accountability should always be the major goal of management. We
believe that only by centralizing services and management can accountability be achieved.
We expect to be held accountable not just for the result, but for the cost.
Cost Control. We have an established record of initiating management controls which have
greatly reduced legal service costs. We have clients of 10+ years where we can show our
share of the overall agency budget dropping by almost fifty percent.
Focus. We are not a large bureaucracy. All attorneys have close working relationships with
each other and with the clients. Each client is vital to us, we can focus on their needs, and
no one gets "lost in the shuffle."
Problem Solving. We accept the responsibility to be an active participant in problem
solving. Our role is not merely to critique others.
Commitment. We are passionate about our commitment to the practice of public law. We
endeavor to be a part of the communities we serve. Moreover, the Firm's management
philosophy is participatory with open communications
We provide our public agency clients with the fall spectrum of necessary specialties and
organize our practice areas as follows: Public Law; Redevelopment, Housing and Rent Control;
Litigation and Appellate; Labor and Employment; Land Use and Zoning; Environmental, Toxics
and Mining; Franchising and Telecommunications; Civil Rights and First Amendment; Conflicts
of Interest and Elections; Contracts and Public Construction; Law Enforcement and Nuisance
Abatement; Public Finance; Torts and Governmental Immunity; Condemnation; and Water Law.
B. Our Experience in the Practice of Public Law
Aleshire & Wynder has the vision of being a leading firm in Southern California in the
area of public law. The partners and associates of the Firm have, for over three decades,
specialized in providing legal services to public agencies, particularly municipalities, located
primarily in Southern California.
We currently represent six cities as City Attorney (Lawndale, Signal Hill, Cypress,
Irwindale, Perris, and Carson) which we have represented in aggregate for over 66 years (an
average of 11 years per city). We represent the redevelopment agencies and housing authorities
in these cities. We represent over 20 different public agencies as general and special counsel,
riocIlcnrnArIi 1A7,0/ AlINTRODUCTION AND Film RESUME
including cities, redevelopment agencies, housing authorities, water agencies, special districts,
financing entities, joint powers authorities, and other public agencies.
Our public law practice includes the entire range of legal matters encountered in the
representation of public agencies and private individuals and companies involved with public
agency matters. We have been able to handle all police and civil rights cases for cities with
police departments; all federal interface issues for airports; personnel issues for all our clients; all
labor negotiations; general plan revision programs; subdivision legal issues; conflict of interest
questions including interfacing with the FPPC; all Brown Act issues and Public Record requests;
adoption of city charters; laws pertaining to initiative, referendum, and recall; municipal
reorganizations including annexations; franchising programs and utility undergrounding; all
condemnation cases for site assembly for redevelopment and housing projects; negotiation of
purchase, redevelopment and development agreements with developers; impact fee ordinances;
assessment districts and other public financings including municipal finance and Proposition 218
issues; cable television franchise ordinances; endangered species questions; CEQA litigation;
environmental cleanup and mining reclamation plans; trash contract renewals and AB 939 issues;
construction contract disputes and litigations; community choice energy aggregation; insurance
defense, including law enforcement and police officer matters; federal and state Civil Rights
statutes, the First Amendment and other constitutional provisions; and similar matters.
C. Our Approach
The nature and extent of our public law practice and the diversity of our clients allows us,
on a daily basis, to assist cities with the most difficult and important issues facing public entities
today. Our public law attorneys have extensive experience in all areas of law affecting local
government, enabling us to effectively and efficiently manage the legal affairs of the cities and
entities we represent. Recognizing the complex nature of the legal issues affecting public
agencies, and the need for specialization, many of our attorneys focus their practice in a
particular area of public agency law. This enables our attorneys to quickly draw upon the
experience of an in-house expert for assistance with any legal problem which may arise for the
agency. Moreover, representing multiple jurisdictions is a great advantage in keeping current.
Often when an issue comes up in one jurisdiction, we have already dealt with it elsewhere. In
fact, often there are projects where we are able to split the costs between jurisdictions.
Aleshire & Wynder promotes diversity among its attorneys and support staff We
actively recruit minority lawyers and support staff members who reflect the demographics of the
cities we serve. In addition to being an equal opportunity employer, the firm does not tolerate
acts of discrimination, including those based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, sexual
• orientation, and religious or political beliefs.
D. Cost Considerations
A critical part of our formula is cost control. As stated earlier, private clients now
routinely pay rates from $300 to $500 per hour for attorney services. The larger firms attract this
business and their cost structures are adjusted to these rates. Meanwhile cities are operating in a
different cost world. This is the world we choose to operate in. We must be cost competitive
09999/0001147383.01INTRODUCTION AND FIRM RESUME
and not price ourselves out of the market as the larger firms are doing. This involves a
multifaceted strategy which includes the following:
(a)
Require attorneys to be hard-working and productive.
(b) Hire productive clerical staff. Do not overstaff.
(c)
Keep space leasing costs under control.
(d) Utilize technology to reduce labor costs.
(e)
Use paralegals when possible.
(f)
Monitor performance by obtaining status reports from the attorneys and reviewing
monthly statements.
(g)
Develop and use form documents as much as possible (contracts, leases,
easements, etc.).
(h)
Develop specialty expertise so that the attorney can operate independently and
without having to research each issue.
The critical concept here comes back to accountability. The field of law is so
complicated that it can be difficult for a client to really understand what the lawyer is doing. To
establish accountability we must internalize the necessary procedures. We do this by constantly
making sure assignments are clear, both from the client and to the attorney doing the work. We
ask ourselves: Is the client asking the right question? Is research necessary? Is there a practical
solution not requiring research? What precisely is the issue to research? Moreover, it is our job
to assist clients in avoiding disputes with other parties, not to promote conflict. Finally, if the
client is headed for a dispute, be very clear in your advice to the legislative body and staff.
Evaluate the likelihood of success and the cost of the dispute, put it in writing, and present this to
the decision-maker.
The effectiveness of our theories and methods are proved by our extraordinary stability
with our clients. We invite you to confirm this by talking to our clients.
E Office Location and Staffing
Our office is located in the distinctive Tower 17 in the Irvine Business Park (on Von
Karman), with convenient parking in both a parking structure and surface parking. Our office
has conference rooms, and the building itself has a large seminar facility available for building
tenants.
As discussed above, one of our goals in forming our Firm was to avoid the high overhead
costs that drive other municipal law firms to take on private clients in the pursuit of higher rates.
From an administrative standpoint, making our operations cost-effective depends on several
strategies: (a) recruit hard-working high quality attorneys and compensate them at a level
comparable with the top firms in our field, (b) have a low ratio of administrative/secretarial staff
to attorneys (1:3), (c) utilize paralegals and clerks to do tasks where attorneys are not needed, (d)
find economical office space, and (e) utilize technology to the greatest extent possible to save
labor costs. We have implemented all these measures.
09994/0001/47383.01INTRODUCTION AND FIRM RESUME
Our office hours are 8:30 am. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. As a general rule
there are attorneys in the office until at least 6:30 p.m. most days. When our clients' needs
dictate it, we work weekends. Meeting the clients' needs is our principal criterion.
We currently have 17 full-time attorneys, up from 10 since we formed the Firm (in 2003).
We have a paralegal who actively assists with litigation, condemnation, and code enforcement
matters to reduce costs. We have in our Firm a team of hard-working, experienced, professional
legal secretaries and support staff who are dedicated to serving the Finn's clients. Our legal
secretaries are full-time and each assists up to three attorneys. We have a full-time Office
Administrator who is a board member of the Association of Legal Administrators and who has•
an extensive network of contacts in other law firms and agencies. We have a receptionist and
two office/file clerks.
F. Why We Exist - Commitment
The Firm exists primarily to do one thing: to provide the highest possible quality of legal
services to public agencies for a price below the average in our field.
A number of our attorneys each have over 20 years of public service and collectively OUT
attorneys have worked for a majority of the major public law firms in Southern California. From
this experience we have learned that we love public service for the following reasons: (a) we
like the complexity and variety of the issues; (b) we like the opportunity to deal with unique
areas of law such as land use, constitutional and environmental law; (c) we like the dynamic of
11 the political process; (d) we like working to promote democratic values and processes; and (e)
we like working with elected officials and staff who are motivated to serve the public.
11
Some municipal law firms have too many high-priced private clients and numerous
conflicts with their public practice. Others overemphasize their specialty practice areas to the
detriment of the general municipal practice areas. Some fail to recognize the special economics
4
of a municipal practice and fail to control c6sts to maintain low rates. Some are simply too large
and bureaucratic and lack focus on their municipal practice. Some fail to emphasize quality
lawyering and its importance to maintaining 20-year client relationships. Some are not|1010|,
, sufficiently collegial or fail to mentor younger attorneys.
We have decided to show our dedication to public service by establishing the policy of
not representing private clients who wish to sue cities. Many firms claim to be public agency
oriented, but we do not know of any who have adopted such a policy. They are unwilling to give
up lucrative fees (private rates can be triple public agency rates). After all, isn't a lawyer a hired-
gun to whoever will pay his rate? We think not. From our standpoint, other firms are unwilling
to make a full commitment to their public agency practice.
In sum, we have established this Firm to do what we believe is not being adequately done
in any prior environment we have worked in: to have a collegial group of quality lawyers totally
committed to serving public agencies in cost-effective and long-teun relationships. If you are
looking for such attorneys, you should consider us.
0999910001/47383.01 5MANAGEMENT SERVICES AND ATTORNEY RESUMES
A. Management Services - Introduction To The Team
We are also pleased to present some of the principal members of our team of highly
qualified public law professionals to provide legal services to the City and Agency. This team
consists of the following attorneys:
Redevelopment, Housing Joseph W. Pannone
Redevelopment, Housing, Taxies, Endangered Species David J. Aleshire
Litigation William W. Wynder
Litigation/Condemnation June Ailin
Municipal Land Use Stephanie R. Scher
Tort and Police Liability Glen E. Tucker
Labor & Employment Colin J. Tanner
Public Finance Urban J. Schreiner
Al! of the foregoing attorneys, and indeed all of the attorneys at the Firm, are properly
licensed to practice law in California. This team of public law professionals combines for over
100 years of experience and expertise in virtually every facet of municipal and redevelopment
law. The whole Firm is available when needed to service the City's needs. A list of general
attorney specialty areas follows, along with a description of attorney backgrounds.
09999/0001/47383.01MANAGEMENT SERVICES AND ATTORNEY RESUMES
B. Attorney List
ATTORNEY YEARS OF LAW SPECIALTY (current assignments bolded)
PRACTICE SCHOOL
AiIin, June 23 TEXAS Asst. City Attorney (Palos Verdes Estates)/Civil
Litigation/Condemnation
Aleshire, David 30 UCLA City Attorney (Irwindale, Signal Hill)/Land Use/
Redevelopment/Environmental/Toxics/ Contracts/
Mining/Franchisiu/Refuse
Dunn, Eric • 10 WESTERN City Attorney (Perris)/Redevelopment/Land Use/
Telecommunications/Housing/Franchising
Galante, Fred 10 LOYOLA Asst. City Attorney (Irwindale)/Land Use/Mining/
Water/Refuse/Airport
Haubert, Douglas 6 McGEORGE Asst. City Attorney (Signal HiII)/Elections/ Conflicts of
Interest/Ethics/Code Enforcement
Honeywell, Dawn 22 LOYOLA Redevelopment/Land Use/Franchising
Israel, Tiffany 9 USD Asst. City Attorney (Lawndale)/Land
Use/Contracts/Environmental
Lopez, Christy
Marie|109| CATHOLIC
UNIVERSITY
Asst. City Attorney (Irwindale)/Land
Use/Telecommunications/Code Enforcement/ Personnel
Luck, Anita 7, LOYOLA Public Finance
Pannone, Joseph 26 LOYOLA Asst. City Attorney (Bellflower; Baldwin
Park)/Redevelopment
Scher, Stephanie 30 UCLA City Attorney (Bellflower; Baldwin Park; Palos Verdes
Estates)/Land Use
Schreiner, Urban 46 UCLA Public Finance
Soltani, Sunny 5 LOYOLA Civil Litigation/Condemnation/Environmental/ Toxics
Tanner, Cohn 15 HASTINGS Personnel/Labor/Police/Civil Litigation
Taylor, Anthony 5 USC Civil Rights/Police/Indian/Code Enforcement
Tucker, Glen 33 SOUTH
WESTERN
Civil Rights/Tort/Police
Wynder, William 27 PEPPERDINE City Attorney (Carson; Cypress; Lawndale)/ Civil
Litigation/Rent Control|1010|09999/0001/47383.01W.
PRACTICE AREAS
We believe that we have highly experienced personnel in municipal practice areas,
including redevelopment and housing, employee discipline, labor and employment; police
related litigation, and public agency liability. For example, in redevelopment and housing,
David Aleshire and Dawn Honeywell both have over 20 years of experience and they are now
joined by Joe Pannone who is similarly experienced. Partner Cohn Tanner, with some 15 years
of labor and employment practice, oversees the Firms practice in the one area while Glen
Tucker, with over 25 years of risk management litigation experience oversees the other. With
respect to appellate practice and public works litigation issues, under the oversight of name-
partner Bill Wynder, the Firm has active litigation in all of these areas.
1. Redevelopment and Housing
We provide the full range of services for our client redevelopment agencies, including:
advice and assistance in the preparation, adoption, and amendment of redevelopment plans; the
formulation and adoption of environmental documentation relating to plans and amendments; the
formulation, negotiation, monitoring, and enforcement of Owner Participation Agreements
(OPAs) and Disposition and Development Agreements (DDAs); the acquisition of property,
either by negotiated sale or condemnation; hazardous wastes and toxic materials clean-up;
economic development; preparation of easements and other real estate documents; and low and
moderate income housing requirements.
Importantly, and contrary to the practice of some firms that practice redevelopment law,
we do not represent land developers in opposition to redevelopment agencies or cities. This
eliminates any potential legal conflict or situation in which we would be creating law adverse to
redevelopment agencies or local government.
We have assisted many redevelopment agencies in the preparation of varied and complex
redevelopment plans and amendments to those plans. We have dealt with problems occurring in
formation of the project area committees, documentation and analysis of blight, preparation of
the environmental documentation under CEQA, negotiations with affected taxing entities,
preparation of tax allocation agreements and presentation to the public agencies and boards on
the complex information generated in this process. Our services also include consultation and
legal advice to the redevelopment agency and its consultants on matters relating to federal, state
and local laws, regulations and other matters affecting the Agency.
In addition to assisting in the preparation of various plans, we have defended agencies in
litigation over plans. We also offer our redevelopment agency clients a special expertise in
eminent domain. We specialize in eminent domain actions for redevelopment agencies, as well
as for municipalities and other public entities. Our work includes extensive experience in
eminent domain acquisitions that involve contaminated soil and how to address the
contamination condition in valuation of the property and in relocation of the property owner.
Many of our jurisdictions have established housing authorities. We have worked with
state and federal programs for housing assistance. We have prepared agreements with
developers and have developed regulatory agreements to ensure that the housing will be
maintained to benefit low-income residents. We have developed municipal housing assistancePRACTICE AREAS
programs; loan, grant and deferral payment housing rehabilitation programs; first-time
homebuyer programs and other related programs. We have worked on state housing audits and
general plan programs to maximize housing opportunities for low-income minority and
disadvantaged persons.
2. Labor Relations and Employment
Dedicated to serving the public sector, the Firm provides essential and comprehensive
labor and employment legal services to our clients. At a time when California public agencies
must operate under more state and federal laws regulating employment and employee relations
than ever before, we provide indispensable resources, advice and advocacy to public sector
agencies trying to develop and maintain a quality workforce and mutually beneficial employee
relations.
The Firm's Labor and Employment practice is led by founding partner, Colin J. Tanner.
Mr. Tanner is rated AVO by the Peer Review Rating system established by Martindale-Hubbell,
which reflects the highest level of professional legal ability and ethics in the legal community
based on the confidential opinions of members of the California State Bar and the California
Judiciary. He is an experienced advocate having defended clients at all levels of the state and
federal judicial systems and administrative and regulatory agencies. His clients have included
the cities of Carson, Covina, Chino Hills, Cypress, Hemet, Industry, Irwindale, Lake Forest,
Palm Springs, Penis, Signal Hill, and Stanton. Mr. Tanner has also served as corporate and/or
employment counsel to a number of private companies, including national transportation
companies, national food distributors, insurance agencies, and real estate agencies.
• The Firm works directly with our public sector management teams and staff, providing
services ranging from simple legal guidance to direct representation in personnel administration,
complex labor negotiation and administratively and/or civilly contested matters. We realize the
sensitivity in pubic sector employment issues, and make it our primary purpose to present
options, develop dependable assessments, obtain successful results, and prevent or resolve
employment disputes or liability issues before they become detrimental to our clients.
The Firm assists its clients in meeting the mandates of such labor related laws as the
Meyers-Milias-Brown Act to "promote the improvement of personnel management and
employer-employee relations." Helping our clients meet employer responsibilities, we regularly
give advice on the critical subjects of employee bargaining, unit determination and/or
modification, the right to employee representation, employee organization recognition, impasse
resolution, strikes and/or other concerted employee action, drafting of labor agreements with
employee organizations, enforcement and defense of labor agreements, arbitration
representation, prosecuting/defending against unfair practice charges filed with the Public
Employment Relations Board (PERB), and prosecuting/defending against labor related civil
court actions.
The Firm provides consistent and common sense advice, guidance and advocacy in the
related field of employment law and/or personnel administration, including but not limited to the
drafting of personnel rules and policies, determining and enforcing workplace management and
employee rights, the hiring process, the employee evaluation and promotion process, employee
09999/0001/47383.01PRACTICE AREAS
training, personnel file maintenance and disclosure, personnel investigations, employee
discipline and discharge, layoffs, due process employee appeal rights and hearings, employee
disability and retirement issues, grievance hearings, proactive employee restraining orders, the
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act, the
California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), the federal Civil Rights Acts, the Age
Discrimination in Employment Act and the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act, the
Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
of 1985 (COBRA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPPAA),
Family and Medical Leave laws, Occupational Safety and Health laws, workers compensation
laws, and Employment Development Department obligations, among others.
3. Risk Management/Police Litigation
The Firm believes in taking a pro-active role in claims handling for the cities it
represents. It is our believe that the training of staff on methods to avoid litigation, early
recognition of liability exposure through evaluations and incident reviews prior to the receipt of
claims and lawsuits are all elements that may reduce the possibilities and instances of litigation.
We currently represent four independent police departments and provide special counsel
work for several other departments. We deal extensively with complicated conflict issues in the
representation of police officers. Many cities devote half of their budgets to public safety. As an
important attlibute of our practice, we take great pride in maintaining the confidence of police
personnel while assisting management in exercising its supervision of the department.
Risk Management, the handling of claims, and lawsuits against a city and representation
of its police officers go hand-in-hand. The Firm deals with a large array of issues that frequently
involve the police. These include, personnel matters; internal affairs investigations; Pitchess
motions; the defense of claims and lawsuits; review of law enforcement task forces; review of
contracts; composition of police department policies, and the review of those policies;
prosecution of criminal Matters; review of criminal ordinance and related issues. Further, we
have been active in review of recreation and parks supervision equipment, as well as potential
defective streets and sidewalks which have lead to litigation.
We have experience in advising municipalities and insurance carriers on the reserving of
costs and indemnity in litigated cases, and submit frequent reports on cases to satisfy the
requirements of excess carriers and re-insurers. The Firm has extensive experience in
representing cities with large self-insured retentions. Members of the Firm are currently on the
approved panel of attorneys for the PIA, PERMA and ICRMA.
We have P.O.S.T. certified instructors and can provide training to officers and police
• administrators in litigation related topics. The Firm has also dealt with the complex issues that
often arise in potential conflicts regarding the unified representation of police officers and their
departments.
The Firm prides itself on its ability to mobilize resources to expedite the handling of
police issues as they arise. The members of the Firm have provided legal services to the
following cities in the area of civil rights, police litigation and other civil litigation matters:
to
09999/0001/47383.01PRACTICE AREAS
Adelanto, Banning, Bell Gardens, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Inglewood, Irwindale, La Palma,
Long Beach, Newport Beach, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Sierra Madre, Signal Hill, the State of
Rhode Island, Temple City and Westminster.
4. Eminent Domain
• We specialize in eminent domain, inverse condemnation and property valuation law. The
Firm's attorneys have handled numerous eminent domain and property valuation matters. These
have included cases involving freeway and road projects, government buildings, schools,
shopping centers, car dealerships, public utility facilities, dams and water projects, natural gas
pipelines, oil drilling projects, redevelopment projects, low-mod housing projects, and etc. Our
attorneys become involved in the process from the inception, at the valuation level, and using
their experience provide the client with sound advise from the beginning.
Being experts in environmental and land use issues provides our clients with a strategic
advantage and adds to the expertise the Firm can bring to bear on property valuation cases. Our
attorneys have dealt with such issues as challenges to the right to take, challenges to
environmental review and mitigation, claims for unreasonable delay or unreasonable conduct by
a public agency, the effect of toxic contamination on property value, disputes over the highest
and best use of a property, claims for loss of business goodwill, severance damages and
relocation benefits, and claims that a proposed use is not a valid public use.
• The Firm also specializes in regulatory "takings" claims ranging from temporary takings
issues to indivichialized exaction cases. Our attorneys have dealt with inverse
condemnation/takings claims ranging from zoning decisions to conditions on approval of
Tentative Map Act Applications.
5. Code Enforcement
We have extensive training and experience in handling code enforcement matters. These
services include a wide range of formal and informal code enforcement work and utilize all
appropriate and available legal remedies, including criminal prosecution, civil injunction,
abatement actions, administrative hearings, administrative citations, and assisting police and
sheriffs in their investigation of municipal code crimes.
We provide code enforcement services to a number of our retainer cities. Our attorneys
regularly work closely with a City's code enforcement staff to create a streamlined process to
handle code enforcement cases. We offer suggestions for better internal case handling by City
staff and provide workshops to educate staff members on proper investigation, reporting and case
preparation techniques.
Our services also include the development of special programs designed to prevent or
eliminate substandard housing conditions as well as development of a cost recovery program
requiring slumlords to pay the investigation costs for inspections. Moreover, our team of
experienced prosecutors are available any time to answer questions and provide assistance to
code enforcement officers to ensure cases are handled efficiently and effectively.
09999/0001/47383.01PRACTICE AREAS
6. Elections
We have provided election consulting services to city clerks and public officials in over
100 elections. Our experienced attorneys are knowledgeable in all aspects of municipal
elections. We have prepared ballot measures, written measure analysis, advised election officials
on code compliance questions, dealt with initiative and recall questions, written campaign
finance ordinances, and dealt with an endless number of other questions, from absentee ballots,
election signs, state and federal Voting Rights Act issues, and all subjects in between.
We have litigated complex and high-profile matters under the California Elections Code.
Our attorneys have also testified before state legislative committees on reforming the electoral
process.
Recently, we represented the Carson City Clerk in all aspects of an election contest which
resulted in trial. The issues involved in that case included numerous allegations against the City
Clerk and her volunteer precinct board, including malconduct by election workers, errors in
ballot counting, and failure to secure ballots. Our aggressive pursuit of discovery proved that the
contestants' allegations against the City Clerk's handling of the election were baseless and the
contestants were forced to drop all allegations prior to trial.
We were recently successful in defending the City of Lawndale in litigation brought by
an elected official against the City. The case involved the official's true residence and whether a
proceeding in quo warranto constituted the exclusive remedy for addressing this dispute. We
successfully defend the City's removal of this public official from office due to lack of residency
before the Los Angeles County Superior Court, the California Court of Appeals, and the
California Supreme Court.
7. Environmental froxics, CEQA, Endangered Specices1
` Serving as city attorneys for cities such as Carson and Signal Hill, our team has taken a
fresh look at redevelopment of environmentally impaired properties by successfully forming
public/private partnerships to bring contaminated properties back to productive economic use.
Having been involved in a number of "clean up" projects, the Firm enjoys a good working
relationship with the Department of Toxics and Substance Control, the Regional Water Board
and the Environmental Protection Agency. The Firm has experience in Polanco notices and
litigation involving same and has expertise dealing with clients that have been named as
Potential Responsible Parties in actions commenced by the various environmental agencies.
During the 20+ years we have represented our public agency clients, we have handled all
CEQA and NEPA issues without outside legal advice. We have worked with all the major
consulting firms who prepare EIR's and typically review 10-20 EIR's per year to assure legal
compliance, not to mention dealing with numerous negative declarations, categorical exemptions
and ministerial projects. We have prepared mitigation monitoring programs, resolutions of
project approval and overriding considerations. We have reviewed and updated agency
guidelines for CEQA compliance.
We have defended all lawsuits challenging our agencies' environmental determinations.
In only one instance have we lost such a legal action and in that instance the developer failed to
11
09999/0001/4735101PRACTICE AREAS
follow our advice. In 2004 we defended four environmental lawsuits in Palm Springs and
obtained favorable determinations in every case.
We have a great deal of experience with Endangered Species issues. We have been
involved in two Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Programs in the Coachella Valley and
Western Riverside County, reviewed biological opinions, and performed extensive analysis of
the Endangered Species Act implications for development projects.
8. Solid Waste
We have established a demonstrated expertise in the area of solid waste legal issues. As
previously discussed, the Firm has extensive experience in virtually all areas of environmental
law including CEQA and NEPA matters. We have handled all refuse franchise negotiations for
our clients for over 20 years. We have, on several occasions, negotiated franchises of up to 10
years duration with only two rate increases during that period. We have thoroughly dealt with
AB939 compliance issues. We have also worked on general projects involving development of
transfer stations and similar projects.
9. Mining
We have overseen Irwindale's decade-long effort to determine the effects of mining in
the 17 pits which occupy one-half of the City and to vest the City with appropriate regulatory
control. This has included developing a mitigation program involving monitoring, taxation, and
fees; the development of corrective measures dealing with dust, noise, slope stability, water
quality, and road reconstruction; and finally construction of needed infrastructure. Through this
process, we have appeared frequently before the State Mining Board and we have worked
extensively with state mining staff. We have developed several regulatory ordinances for lead
agencies. We have represented the city in extensive litigation, and in state administrative
procedures to overcome the mining industry's efforts to block City regulations, and have drafted
major legislation to revise the State Mining and Reclamation Act to strengthen lead agency
regulatory control. We successfully tripled the City's mining tax, reversed growing deficits,
recovered all costs and negotiated agreements with the mining operators. After a six-year battle,
we have begun to obtain agreements to fill in the 200-400' deep pits and fully reclaim them.
Few firms have our depth of experience with mining issues.
10. Rent Control
By virtue of the "full service" representation of the Firm's municipal clients, our lawyers
have developed an expertise in the area of mobilehome park rent control. The City of Palm
Springs, for example, has a large "senior" population and a number of mobilehome parks within
which they reside. The City of Carson has in excess of 25 rent controlled mobilehome parks
within its boundaries, the largest such concentration of rnobilehome parks in the "South Bay" of
Los Angeles County.
We have successfully advised our clients' various rent review tribunals for over 15 years
and, when necessary, we have successfully defended the decisions of these tribunals in well over
a dozen litigated matters before the superior courts of Riverside and Los Angeles counties, the
Second and Fourth Appellate Districts of the Courts of Appeal, the California Supreme Court
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and, on one occasion, the United States Supreme Court. We have provided our legal advice in
the context of two "distinctive" types of rent control ordinances; those utilizing a "maintenance
of net operating income" approach to rent control, and those utilizing a "factor" based approach
to rent control.
Members of the Finn litigated what is, to date, the seminal case before the Court of
Appeals that articulated the scope of municipal regulatory authority, under the Government
Code, over "conversions" of regulated mobilehome parks from local rent control to state rent
decontrol. The Finn now regularly advises its municipal clients on this "cutting edge" and
rapidly developing area of the law.
11. Public Finance
We are a nationally recognized Bond Counsel Firm and, as such, have served as bond
counsel for all the public finance matters for our clients during the existence of the Firm.
Completed projects include refinancing of redevelopment agency debt; financing major public
projects such as water system acquisition and improvement, wastewater facilities, parking
structures, airport improvements, convention center expansions, public golf courses, and so forth.
We have financed low and moderate income housing projects. We have utilized all forms of
joint powers and financing authorities, assessment districts, community facilities districts,
community services districts, municipal water districts and similar legal vehicles. Our expertise
in financial matters enables us to play an effective role in the formulation of financing plans by
our clients.
Together, the Firm's bond counsel have over 50 years of experience in municipal finance
representing cities, counties, special districts and state agencies. They consistently educate
themselves and keep up with the latest developments in the law, including the birth of the
Central Post Office and the latest promulgated Circular 230 regulations.
Our approach as bond counsel is to provide an open environment for information sharing.
The Finn will encourage and maintain close relationships with clients, staff and officials and
endeavor to create a comfortable and professional relationship for information sharing and due
diligence matters. The Firm realizes the importance of providing and receiving the correct
information. To that end, the Firm will maintain constant communication with the client
throughout the transaction process. We will also provide the necessary follow up consultation
following bond issuance.
12. Other Expertise
We also have expertise in several areas which even large public law firms rniolit not have:
electrical deregulation and creation of municipal utilities; privatization of utilities such as a
wastewater treatment plant and a convention center; and oil, water, and gas pipeline franchising In
representing the City of Palm Springs, we have been actively involved with the jurisdiction which
has gone further than any other in the country towards exploring new competitive approaches to
deregulation. Also in Palm Springs, we helped structure privatization of the city's wastewater
treatment plant with U.S_ Filter, a Fortune 500 company, in one of the first transactions of its kind in
California. Similarly, we prepared all documentation to accomplish transferring the City's
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convention center to the largest convention center management company in the country under a
management agreement. Again demonstrating ability for innovation, we developed a program to
force all pipeline entities in Signal Hill into franchise agreements increasing City revenue by
$100,000 and creating a remediation fund for contamination created by existing pipelines. For
Mammoth Lakes we created an unusual franchise process to get a number of gas companies to fund
creation of an underground delivery system to enhance community safety and revenue.
As a result of the experience in the foregoing areas of practice, our attorneys are thoroughly
familiar with developing legal precedents and can handle the most sophisticated problems in a
timely manner. This allows our clients to be at the forefront of emerging municipal programs,
services, and regulations. This also allows us to represent our clients in some of the most
specialized and complex of transactional and litigation matters.
I
0999910001147383.01V.
MUNICIPAL CLIENTS ANT) REFERENCES
A. Conflicts of Interest
We are not aware of any existing clients which have an interest in any business or real
property in the City. No member of the Firm has such an interest. No member of the Finil
contracts with or contemplates contracting with the City. None of our municipal clients adjoins
the City.
Accordingly, with respect to conflicts, we have no present or contemplated employment
which is adverse to the City We will not represent clients in matters either in litigation or non-
litigation against the City. In fact, we do not represent private clients in litigation against public
agencies. However, we may have past and present clients or may have future clients, which,
from time to time, may have interests adverse to the City, and we reserve the right to represent
such clients in matters not connected with our representation of the City.
If a potential conflict of interest arises in our representation of two clients, if such conflict
is only speculative or minor, we seek waivers from each client with regards to such
representation. However, if real conflicts exist, we would withdraw from representing either•
client in the matter, and assist them in obtaining outside special counsel.
We are aware of no affiliations or interests which would conflict in any manner with the
performance of services to the City. We take pride in the fact that we do not represent developers
or others likely to have interests adverse to our municipal clients. We are not aware of any other
public law firms willing to give up this lucrative private practice where higher rates are available.
We have adopted this practice so that our municipal clients can be assured that their legal counsel
and his or her firm has undivided loyalty to them.
B. Current Public Clients
Our Firm currently provides legal services to a number of public entities. Our existing
client list follows:|1010|_City Attorney Dates Performed
City of Carson 2003 -Present
City of Cypress 1997-Present
City of Irwindale 1996-Present
City of Lawnda.le 1978-Present
City of Penis 2000-Present
City of Signal Hill 1978-Present
Redevelopment Agency Counsel Dates Performed
City of Carson
—
2003-Present
City of Irwindale 1996-Present
City of Lawndale 1992-Present
City of Perris 2000-Present
City of Signal Hill 1978-Present
(0
09999/0001/47383.01MUNICIPAL CLIENTS AND REFERENCES
Housin Authority Counsel Dates Performed
City of Irwindale 1996-Present
City of Signal Hill 1978-Present
General Counsel Dates Performed
State Assoc. of Code Enforcement Officials 2003-Present
Golden Valley Municipal Water Dist. 1970-Present
Home Gardens Water District 2000-Present
Irwindale Finance Authority 1996-Present
Orange County Council of Governments 2001-Present
Palm Springs Finance Authority 1990-Present
Signal Hill Finance Authority 1994-Present
Riverside-San Bernardino Housing & Finance
Agency
2005-Present
Orange County Housing and Finance Agency 2005-Present
S s ecial Counsel • Dates Performed
Town of Mammoth Lakes 2000-Present
City of Palm Springs 1990-Present
City of Covina (Labor & Employment) 2004-Present
City of Palm Desert (Rent Control) 2005-Present
II
I
C. References
1. Redevelopment & Housing
CLIENT
City of Signal Hill
Signal Hill Redevelopment Agency
2175 Cherry Avenue
Signal Hill, CA 90755
City of Irwindale
5050 N. Irwindale Avenue
Irwindale, CA 91706
City of Palm Springs
3200 East Tahquitz Canyon Way
Palm Springs, CA 92262
City of Carson
701 East Carson Street
Carson CA 90745-2224
CONTACT
Kenneth C. Farfsing, City Manager
(562) 989-7302
Debbie Rich, Deputy City Manager
(562) 989-7375
Mayor Julian Miranda
Bradley Baxter, City Manager
(626) 962-4012
Former Mayor Will Kleindienst
Mr. David Ready, City Manager
Chris Mills, Councilmember
John Raymond, Redevelopment Director
(760) 322-8200
Mayor James Dear
Jerome Groomes, City Manager
Ronald Winker, General Manager
(310) 233-4802
it
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MUNICIPAL CLIENTS AND REFERENCES
2. Labor and Employment (Colin Tanner)
CLIENT
City of Carson
701 East Carson Street
Carson CA 90745-2224
City of Covina
125 East College Street
Covina, California 91723-2199
City of Irwindale
5050 N. Irwindale Avenue
Irwindale, CA 91706
City of Palm Springs
3200 East Tahquitz Canyon Way
Palm Springs, CA 92262
3. Risk Management (Glen Tucker)
CLIENT
Palm Springs Police Department
200 South Civic Drive
Palm Springs, CA 92263-1830
Banning Police Department
125 East Ramsey Street
Banning, CA 92220
Culver City Police Department
9770 Culver Boulevard
Culver City, CA. 90232
Bell Gardens Police Department
7100 South Garfield Avenue
Bell Gardens, CA 90201
CONTACT
Jacquelyn Acosta
Administrative Services General Manager
(310) 952-1755
Paul Phillips, City Manager
Robert Neitiber, Human Resources Manager
(626) 858-5551
Sharrneen Bhojani, Personnel Manager
(626) 430-2204
Sue Mills
Human Resources Manager
(760) 323-8249
CONTACT
Gary Jeandron, Chief of Police
(760) 778-8402
John Horton, Chief of Police
(951) 922-3170
Donald W. Pedersen, Chief of Police
(562) 989-7209
Eli Magdalano, Captain
(562) 806-7700
Carl Wairen & Company
Dwight Kunz
750 The City Drive, Suite 400
(800) 572-6900 x 140
Orange, CA 92868
09999/0001147383.01