Agenda #: 4.7
Meeting Date: December 6, 2022
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM: Daniel Fox, City Manager
TITLE: FIRST AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT WITH WOODRUFF,
SPRADLIN & SMART FOR CITY ATTORNEY SERVICES.
STRATEGIC
GOAL: Open, Engaged & Responsive Government
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve, and authorize the Mayor to sign, the First Amendment to Agreement with Woodruff, Spradlin & Smart for City Attorney Services designating Omar Sandoval as City Attorney.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
None.
BACKGROUND/ANALYSIS:
On April 2, 2013, the City Council selected the law firm of Woodruff, Spradlin & Smart (WS&S) to provide legal services to the City of Diamond Bar following an extensive competitive search process. As part of that Agreement, the City Council selected David DeBerry to serve as City Attorney, and Omar Sandoval and James Eggart to serve as Assistant City Attorneys. WS&S, and each of these attorneys in their respective roles, have continuously served the City of Diamond Bar well since approval of the Agreement in 2013.
City Attorney David DeBerry has indicated his desire to change his status with WS&S to less than full time and has submitted his resignation as City Attorney to the City of Diamond Bar effective December 31, 2022. It is therefore necessary for the City Council to appoint a new City Attorney.
The appointment of the City Attorney is at the full discretion of the City Council. The proposed Amendment to the WS&S Agreement will appoint Omar Sandoval to serve as the City Attorney and David DeBerry to serve as Assistant City Attorney effective December 31, 2022. All other provisions of the Original Agreement will remain unchanged. The City will continue to have access to the full compliment of legal services offered by the law firm of WS&S.
Mr. Sandoval has been with WS&S since 2005 and has over 28 years of experience advising city councils, city commissions, and special districts on governmental and regulatory activities and procedures. He is also currently serving as City Attorney to the City of Garden Grove. He has experience with the Brown Act, Political Reform Act, Public Records Act, Government Tort Claims Act, Public Contracts Code, adoption of local regulations, code enforcement, Uniform Building Codes, ADA, land use, property maintenance, solid waste, water, sewage, municipal franchises and telecommunications.
As previously mentioned, Mr. Sandoval has served the City of Diamond Bar as Assistant City Attorney since April 2013. Over the years, Mr. Sandoval has served as acting City Attorney at serval Council meetings. He is familiar with City operations, policies and regulations. He most recently provided valuable assistance in implementing the State’s organic recycling mandates, including preparation of the ordinance implementing SB 1383 and the amendment to the Waste Management Agreement. He was also directly involved in the process to transition to district-based elections.
PREPARED BY:
REVIEWED BY:
Attachments:
1. 4.7.a WS&S - 1st Amendment