With the passing of Simon Silva in September 2022, which was followed by his election to the position of Chula Vista City Attorney in the November elections, the City Council declared the city attorney’s seat vacant and called for a special election to fill the position in November this year. Pending the outcome of the special election, City Attorney Glen Googins could continue to serve under the City’s Charter, but on Jan. 10, the city of Santa Clara appointed Googins to be its city attorney starting March 1. This created the need to appoint an interim city attorney to replace Googins until his successor can be sworn into office.
An ad hoc subcommittee of the council, comprised of Mayor John McCann and Councilwoman Carolina Chavez, along with the City Manager and a representatives from the City Attorney’s office, reviewed responsive proposals, conducted interviews, and recommended to the City Council that the City of Chula Vista enter into a contract with the Lounsbery Firm for interim acting City
Attorney Services, and appropriate funds for that purpose.
The council unanimously voted to enter into a contract with Lounsbery Firm with attorney Jill Maland designated “acting” city attorney.
Googins said that Lounsbery was found to be a “better fit” for City Council.
“Why is Jill so special? It was only a year and a half ago Jill was the assistant city attorney in my office running a lot of administrative issues with the office providing a lot of services across a broad range of departments,” he said. “She knows our city. She has been here on and off since 2004. She is a terrific lawyer with great relationships with other departments and really is a person who can come up to speed right away with a lot of firm resources and capacities behind her. And that is really what you need.”
McCann said the great thing of having a city attorney on staff is the ability to have an attorney who is available at all times when needed.
“Lounsbery said they would have an attorney here Tuesday and Thursday all day and make sure they would take additional time if needed,” he said. “In addition, with Jill Maland, one of the attorneys that will be supporting us, she specifically understands what is going on about the city from the bayfront to financial campaign reform, to the San Diego State agreement, university project.”
McCann said bringing in someone for a short period of time, the city needs someone who “can hit the ground running.”
Consistent with Council action, a request for proposals was finalized and issued to the four identified firms on Jan. 20.
The firms solicited were Lounsbery Ferguson Altona & Peak; McDougal Boehmer Foley Lyon Mitchell & Erickson; Burke, Williams & Sorenson, and Best, Best and Krieger. Two of the firms—Burke, Williams & Sorenson and Best, Best and Krieger—were interested, but ultimately determined that they did not currently have the capacity to provide the required services due to existing commitments to other local cities with Tuesday night council meetings.
Another prominent municipal law firm, Rutan & Tucker, was also solicited to submit a proposal but the firm determined they did not have sufficient capacity to provide support for council meetings and did not submit a proposal.
Staff reported that two firms were highly qualified, Lounsbery Firm and McDougal Firm. The recommendation of the subcommittee that the Lounsbery Firm be selected to provide the City with necessary interim acting city attorney services and that funds be appropriated for such purposes. The City Manager’s Office and the City Attorney’s office concurred with this recommendation.
The proposal from the Lounsbery Firm suggested Maland be designated “acting” city attorney, and the firm provided the following additional services.
• Multiple other attorneys to be available to provide back-up in various practice areas, with Helen Peak as the primary back-up.
• 8 “on-site” days per month to be provided at a fixed rate of $18,500 per month, including Council meeting days no matter the duration.
• Hourly rates above and beyond as follows: Acting City Attorney/Partners: $235 per hour; associates $190 per hour; paralegals $100 per hour.
Googins said his work for the city began in 1993 when he was hired as an entry level deputy city attorney, coming out of private practice.
“This was such a perfect opportunity for me,” he said. “And it turned into the absolutely perfect job. And here we are, fast forwarded 30 years. It is surreal for me to be saying farewell in my remarks.”
Googins said he wanted to thank the Chula Vista community.
“I still do not think people have any idea of what the city attorney does,” he said.
“I tried like mad during my campaign to educate people about that. I really wanted people to appreciate the importance of the job, and when they were voting, vote for me for the right reasons.”
Googins said Chula Vista has been his hometown since 1992.
“And I love it,” he said. “I love the mix of old and new. I love the diversity and energy of our population. I love the best hole in the wall Mexican food anywhere. And the people here as challenging as it is, the disputes that we have, it is just a wonderful place.”
“The job can be intense. The hours can be long. The public is not always nice or appreciative of all we do. Find joy and laughter in what we do, please.”
