City Attorney’s Office
Budget Presentation
June 6, 2024
Budget Year 2025
City Attorney Mission Statement
The mission of the Fresno City Attorney's Office is to provide the highest quality legal services to the elected officials, administration, and staff of the City of Fresno. Legal services consist of legal research and advice, preparing legal documents, prosecuting on behalf of and defending the City in court and administrative proceedings, assisting with legislative and administrative meetings and hearings, and improving the community through all of these means.
The City Attorney's Office is to remain impartial, objective, and must avoid taking positions on City policy. The City Attorney's Office provides a full range of legal options concerning the matters at issue, including any associated legal advantages and risks, so that clients may make informed policy and business decisions.
The City Attorney's Office assists the policy decision makers to achieve their objectives and is never to be an obstacle or hindrance to those objectives. The City Attorney's Office should inquire about client objectives and then tailor the services provided to meet the objectives. Advice should be timely, clear, concise, and complete. 6/5/2024 2
City Attorney Mission Statement
The City Attorney's Office should be creative and innovative where necessary, not bound by historical practices that do not best serve current needs.
The City Attorney's Office must keep confidences when appropriate and share information when appropriate. A high degree of discretion is necessary at all times. The City Attorney's Office should ensure the Council, Mayor, and Manager are informed of and in agreement with the City Attorney's policies concerning confidences and sharing of information.
The City Attorney should effectively manage the office and outside counsel so that all are informed of these policies and mission. It is the responsibility of the City Attorney to ensure all lawyers and staff providing the City legal services are efficiently and effectively meeting client needs and are fulfilling this mission. 6/5/2024 3
CAO Provides Legal Services To All Officials
4 Council
City Attorney
Chief Assistant
Litigation
Chief Assistant
Code Enforcement
Chief Assistant
Transactions
Manager
and StaffMayor
Successor
Agency
Boards
Commissions
Clerk
City Attorney’s Office
Services
5 TRANSACTIONS
Contracts
Procurement
Ordinances
Resolutions
Ethics Advice
Charter Analysis
CEQA
Land Use
Impact Fees
Taxes
Elections
Council Procedure
Commissions
LITIGATION
Wage Theft Prosecutions
Public Records Act
Defense Litigation
Plaintiff’s Litigation
Class Actions
Labor Advice
Employee Contracts
Employee Discipline
Investigations
PD Advice
FMC Prosecution
CODE ENFORCEMENT
Illegal Dispensaries/CAPP
Eviction Protection
Rental Inspection/ASET
Illegal/Tire Dumping
CUP Enforcement
Motel Inspections
Vacant Buildings
Abatement
Demolitions
District Teams
School Area Team
Mobilehome Parks
Encampment Cleanups
Collections/Assessments
City Attorney’s Office
FY 2023
Current Authorized Positions
6 Attorneys 37
Managers/Supervisors 17
Secretaries/Admin 24
Investigators 1
Paralegals 11
Accounting 4
Inspectors/Labor 84*
Total: 178
*8 vacancies
City Attorney’s Office
Code Enforcement Smoke Shop Investigations
Cannabis Administrative Prosecutor
Program (CAPP)
Total Inspections 140
Retail (Smoke Shops) 69
Cultivation Sites 11
Manufacturing 2
Notice and Orders 75
Total Citations $5,230,638
6/5/2024 7
City Attorney’s Office
Code Enforcement Night Team
Night Team (Five Person Team)
Sidewalk Vendors:
Written Warnings 12
Citations 13
$2,900
Mobile Vendors:
Citations 4
Public Nuisance 230+
6/5/2024 8
City Attorney’s Office
FY 2025
Transactions Unit Highlights
6/5/2024 9
• Council special projects
• Draft resolutions and ordinances/text amendments
• Advise on requests for legal services and Administration projects • Advise on in-house meetings and City bodies:
• City Council
• Planning Commission
• Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission
• Historic Preservation Commission
• Council subcommittees and other bodies
• Advise on procurement matters
• Advise on bonding and other City financing issues
• Advise on ethics and conflicts issues
• Advise on development and construction, long-term infrastructure planning, and interagency agreements
City Attorney’s Office
FY 2025
Litigation/Criminal Cases
6/5/2024 10
• 155 Ongoing Civil Litigation Cases
• 255 Active Criminal Cases
Partnering With Other Departments
1. HART on large-scale
abatements
2. Smoke shop investigations
with PD
3. Parks Department on
artwork and illegal vendors
4. ISD implementing a new and
more secure case
management system
5. Vehicle Sharing with Capital
Projects
6/5/2024 11
City Attorney’s Office
FY 2025 – RLS Report
6/5/2024 12
City Attorney's Office Workload
Calendar
Year
Requests for Legal
Services
Average Per
Day
2019 2308 6.32
2020 2172 5.90
2021 2443 6.69
2022 2753 7.54
2023 3048 8.35
2024 1427 (as of 5/31) 10.58
City Attorney’s Office
FY 2025 – PRA Report
6/5/2024 13
City Attorney's Office Workload
Calendar
Year
Requests for Public
Records
Average Per
Day
2019 2190 6
2020 1961 5.3
2021 2602 7.1
2022 3924 10.8
2023 4748 13
2024 2522 (as of 6/5) 16.2
City Attorney’s Office
FY 2025
Total Budget
Appropriation Type FY22
Actuals
FY23
Actuals
FY24
Amended
FY25
Proposed
Personnel $14,694,790 $16,065,157 $19,881,200 $20,111,600 Non-Personnel $1,667,434 $3,741,266 $5,664,100 $2,886,700 Interdepartmental $2,391,368 $3,470,767 $3,537,000 $4,905,000 Total Department Expenditures $18,753,592 $23,277,190 $29,082,300 $27,903,300 6/5/2024 14
City Attorney’s Office
FY 2025
# of Budgeted Positions
Position Type FY23
Adopted
FY24
Adopted
FY24
Amended
FY25
Changes
FY25
Proposed
Legal Proceedings 55.00 62.5 63.5 2.50 66.00
Code 103.00 109.75 109.75 2.25 112.00
Total 158.00 172.25 173.25 4.75 178.00
Notes
1. Ten positions added to Legal Proceedings in FY24 are being made whole for a total of 2.50 FTE.
2. Nine positions added to Code in FY 24 are being made whole for a total of 2.25 FTE.
6/5/2024 15
City Attorney’s Office
FY 2025
Most Impactful Items
Non-Position Type Budget 2025 Proposed
Utilities $74,088.60
Leases $160,058.08
Notes
1. Utilities budget
includes PG&E,
janitorial services, and
security
2. Leases budget
includes monthly rent
and parking at 2440
Tulare St., #100
6/5/2024 16
City Attorney’s Office
FY 2025
Federal/State Grants
Grant Type 2025 Proposed
Federal:
Downtown Demo $257,800
State:
Waste Tire Amnesty $30,000
Waste Tire Enforcement $87,800
Notes
1. Federal grant
includes $257,800
for Downtown
Demo. We are
working with
Planning on the
demo of 934 F
Street.
2. State grant
includes $117,800
for the Waste Tire
Amnesty Program
and Waste Tire
Enforcement.
6/5/2024 17
City Attorney’s Office
FY 2025
Proposed Budget & Possible Motions
6/5/2024 18
Mayor’s Proposed $27,903,300
Eviction Protection $1,500,000
Immigration Defense $100,000
Wage Theft Unit (Grant) $720,000
Total with Motions $30,223,300
End
Questions or Comments?
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