Stockton councilmembers will hold a special meeting to decide who will oversee the City Attorney’s Office after Marci Arredondo leaves her post next month.
Mayor Christina Fugazi confirmed Arredondo’s resignation at a press conference Monday at City Hall after reports came out last week that the city attorney had put in her two weeks after only five months on the job.
The city has not yet begun searching for a permanent replacement, Fugazi said. The city attorney is one of four chartered employees that works directly for the council.
The council’s first decision in the process will be whether to designate an acting city attorney, appoint an interim leader or take another approach while determining how to fill the position permanently. Fugazi said the council will hold a special closed-session meeting, though she did not specify a date for the meeting.
Arredondo plans to spend her remaining days preparing the office for the transition and recommending how the city should proceed, Fugazi said Monday. The mayor was scheduled to meet with Arredondo on Tuesday and said she would present any of Arredondo’s recommendations to the council.
“She has stated to me that she is working on making sure that we don’t skip a beat as we move forward,” Fugazi said.
Under Stockton’s charter, the authority to appoint the city attorney rests with the City Council. The city attorney serves at the council’s pleasure and must be licensed to practice law in California, with at least five years of legal practice in the state before being appointed.
The charter does not designate an assistant city attorney or any other employee as the automatic successor when the position becomes vacant. It also does not establish a deadline for appointing an acting, interim or permanent replacement.
California’s open-meeting laws permit councilmembers to meet in closed session to consider the appointment or employment of a public employee, allowing personnel deliberations to remain confidential. A special meeting must still be noticed at least 24 hours in advance and identify the matter to be discussed.
If the council appoints or employs someone during the closed session, it must publicly report the action during the same meeting, identify the position and disclose each councilmember’s vote or abstention.
Arredondo’s resignation, first reported by Stocktonia, comes less than five months after the council voted 7-0 to appoint her as Stockton’s permanent city attorney.
A July 21 document obtained by Stocktonia said Arredondo had received another employment opportunity that would allow her to work with her children, whom she described as “future lawyers.” Fugazi said Arredondo had decided to work with her family to create their own law firm.
Neither Arredondo nor Fugazi identified the firm or provided further details about the new venture.
The timing was unexpected for the council and Arredondo, Fugazi said, but the mayor defended her decision to pursue the opportunity.
“It is not something I had planned for, council had planned for, and I would say it’s not something Ms. Arredondo had been planning for,” Fugazi said. “But the opportunity presented itself, and we wish her the best in that. And, you know, family — family is first.”
Arredondo will remain city attorney through Aug. 5. Her employment contract required her to provide the city with at least two weeks’ written notice before resigning.
The next leader will inherit an office responsible for advising the council and city departments, representing Stockton in legal proceedings and reviewing the city’s contracts and other legal documents.
Several legal and policy matters remain underway. Fugazi cited court cases involving illegal dumping and criminal negligence, along with a proposed policy that could require some employees to reimburse Stockton for training expenses if they leave the city after receiving costly, specialized preparation.
Arredondo also sought to reduce the city’s reliance on outside law firms by moving cases that could be handled by city attorneys back into the office, Fugazi said.
“She also was innovative in restructuring the City Attorney’s Office and making sure that every asset that we had in that office was put in a position and empowered to do what they do best, which is practice law,” Fugazi said.
The next city attorney should continue that approach while protecting both the city and councilmembers from potential legal exposure, the mayor said.
“We want to make sure that our next city attorney continues the way Ms. Arredondo did in handling our cases, making sure that they’re professional, that they have integrity and that they are able to not only protect council but protect the city of Stockton from possible lawsuits,” Fugazi said.
Arredondo’s departure will leave Stockton without a permanent legal chief for the second time in less than seven months. Former City Attorney Lori Asuncion resigned Jan. 13 after more than 18 years with the city. The council designated Assistant City Attorney Taryn Jones to lead the office while it conducted the search that resulted in Arredondo’s appointment.
One of the most recent high-profile matters Arredondo handled involved allegations of attempted election interference by a staffer in Fugazi’s office. In a July 1 email obtained by Stocktonia, Arredondo informed councilmembers that City Clerk Katherine Roland had requested an investigation into alleged actions of mayoral public information officer Jason Teramoto and cautioned that taking adverse action against Roland could expose the city to a retaliation claim.
Fugazi did not respond Monday when asked about Arredondo’s departure occurring while her office faces those allegations.