Diaz New City Attorney; Leaf Blower Law Changes

At last night’s Manhattan Beach City Council meeting, without further discussion or argument from the floor, the Council unanimously appointed the 65-member law firm of Richards, Watson and Gershon to provide city attorney services for the city, with the firm's shareholder Roxanne Diaz serving as City Attorney and shareholder Larry Wiener assisting as Senior Counsel.  

In an attempt to reduce costs, and still meet the city's needs, Diaz will serve as an independent contractor at the rate of $19,500 per month, and will keep office hours in Manhattan Beach Monday, Tuesday and half day Wednesday, with additional fee-based hours available for legal services as needed.

At the Tuesday meeting, Council also unanimously passed an ordinance to amend the municipal code to allow violations, including that of using mechanical leaf blowers, to be prosecuted as either an infraction or misdemeanor, by using the “wobbler” provision, which allows the enforcing agency to use its own judgment. 

According to Police Chief Eve Irvine, prior municipal code required multiple instances of the same infraction [i.e., leaf blower use] by the same offender to elevate the violation to misdemeanor status, which necessitated a "burdensome" tracking system. Read the staff report presented to council, "This particular method employed creates bookkeeping and enforcement difficulties which have challenged enforcement efforts."

The new amendment adopted last night allows for anyone who violates the municipal code to be cited for a misdemeanor on their first offense. 

Individuals cited with infractions cannot be punished by imprisonment and cannot have jury trials or public defenders. Individuals cited for misdemeanors can be punished by fines and imprisonment. 

Manhattan Beach's new city attorney Diaz is a lifelong resident of Los Angeles and a graduate of Hastings law school. She has spent 15 years in public law, and is currently City Attorney for Hidden Hills, and Chief Assistant Attorney for Beverly Hills. She is also Vice President of the City Attorneys Association of Los Angeles County. In 2012, she will become its president.   

Wiener is a graduate of UCLA law school, and has served in public law for 25 years, specializing in land use, the California Environmental Quality Act, and various tax and revenue issues.  

Councilwoman Amy Howorth, who was on the ad hoc city attorney selection committee with Councilman David Lesser, said she enjoyed the process and was confident they made the right choice.

Lesser explained the selection process, which included publicly noticed meetings held to gather input for the Requests for Proposals (RFPs) that were sent to 30 Southern California law firms with municipal law practices, and advertised through multiple sources. Twelve responded, 11 with proposals. 

After reviewing all proposals, writing samples and references, the selection sub-committee recommended four candidates. City Council interviewed the four firms and their representatives before choosing Diaz.  

Council looked for qualifications beyond legal competency, including the applicant’s record of ethics, transparency and civic engagement.