A decade ago Chula Vista voters passed a ballot measure that converted the city attorney’s job from an appointed position to an elected one.
The measure’s approval concerned land use attorney and one-time deputy city attorney Glen Googins because he feared that an elected city attorney would be more of a politician than a lawyer.
This concern was one of the reasons Googins had decided to run for the position in 2010 in a race he won, making him the city’s first-ever elected city attorney.
Then in 2014, Googins did not need to campaign because he went uncontested.
However, this November Googins seeks re-election into his third-and-final term in office against Andrew Deddeh.
Googins said he’s seeking re-election because he said he knows what the city attorney’s role entails.
“I know how important that (city attorney) position is and I know the kind of mischief that could be made in that office with someone who isn’t qualified to do it (the job),” he said.
In his two-terms in office as Chula Vista’s top legal adviser, Googins said he has improved the operational efficiency of the law department.
He’s hired a litigator to improve the quality of litigation for the city and reduce cost for outside attorney services.
He said he is proud to have brought the city’s risk manager from the human resources department to the legal department. He said by doing that it has helped improve claims management and risk management protocols.
Googins also implemented a project management software system that allows the legal department to be more responsive to its clients.
The city attorney’s job is to advise the city in all of its business transactions, and advise in all of the city’s litigations and dispute, he said. As the city’s legal adviser, Googins also advises the council on proposed and enacted city ordinances.
If re-elected, Googins said he wants to help advise on city projects that are on the brink of breaking ground.
He mentions that although significant progress is being made on the bayfront project, there is still a lot of work to do with the designing and implantation of a public funding component, a component that he said he can lend his expertise.
“I know how the city values that project; I know how important it could be for the city,” he said. “So that’s definitely one thing I’m interested in working through.”
Googins also said he wants to help with closing a deal with the University of Saint
Katherine’s, bringing the university to Chula Vista as well as navigating the city when the time comes to bring a public university to that site.
“We really have a very unique opportunity to build the university of the future on that site,” he said.
In addressing illegal marijuana dispensaries in the city, Googins said his office will be receiving funding for formulation and implementation of a criminal prosecution unit. A deputy attorney will head the unit and will be tasked to start a criminal prosecution unit. Googins said that group would be much more effectively deal with illegal marijuana operations.
Regarding criticism over a case involving former Deputy Fire Chief Jim Garcia that cost the city about $1.2 million, Googins acknowledges that the city lost that case at trial but said his opponent has it wrong in that the city was guilty over defamation.
Googins said after the trial was over the city released a public statement about that Garcia’s lawyer said was defamatory because they knew the city wanted to appeal the verdict.
He said the defamation claim was more of a legal move by Garcia’s lawyer to avoid an appeal.
“So, all that was, was we didn’t settle a defamation claim because we made a mistake,” Googins said. “We settled the whole case that happen to include a defamation claim that they filed as a tactic in the due course of them wanting to discourage us from going forward with our appeal.”
