Title
Adoption of Resolution Approving a Workforce Change in the City Attorney's Office to Create a New Classification, Chief Assistant City Attorney; Add One Position, Chief Assistant City Attorney; and Amend the Executive Management (EXME) Salary Schedule to Add the Classification of Chief Assistant City Attorney, Effective October 13, 2019. (Human Resources 2510).
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City Attorney's Office (CAO) has been operating for some time with a contract attorney providing legal services on a number of highly complex projects, most notably in the area of rent control. The CAO requests that the City Council bring these services in-house by creating a Chief Assistant City Attorney classification, which would then allow the City Attorney to appoint the attorney (currently under contract) to fill this position under Government Code, section 21224 (a). The contract would then be terminated. This change is expected to achieve costs savings for the City of Alameda (City) (estimated at $74,000 for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019-20) due to the in-house position being funded at a substantially lower rate than the existing contract.
BACKGROUND
The CAO has been operating for some time with a contract attorney providing legal services on a number of highly complex projects, most notably in the area of rent control. This attorney possesses significant and specialized skills in municipal law, having served as the City Attorney and special counsel for numerous jurisdictions in California. In recognition of such skills and expertise, between late 2018 and early 2019, City Council appointed this attorney to serve as the Interim City Attorney. Since the new City Attorney took his post in early May of 2019, the Interim City Attorney has returned to contract status with an hourly rate of $225 per hour, which was established in 2016. Funding for this contract position has been apportioned approximately 50% to the...
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