Opening on the dais still isn’t filled

Alicia Robinson

City officials are hoping the second time is the charm in hiring a

new city attorney.

As City Atty. Bob Burnham’s last day fast approaches, the City

Council has still not hired a replacement -- and won’t have by the

Aug. 13 deadline.

A field of 28 candidates was narrowed to one finalist in May, but

that person accepted another job. So the council decided to start

over and hire an outside firm to search for a new city attorney.

The city entered a contract Friday with Bob Murray & Associates of

Sacramento. Deputy City Atty. Robin Clauson will fill in for Burnham

for a few months while the firm looks for a permanent city attorney,

City Manager Homer Bludau said.

“One reason we hired Mr. Murray is because his firm does have a

lot of experience recruiting city attorneys throughout California,”

Bludau said. “One of the first things Mr. Murray intends to do is to

meet individually with the City Council in order to get their

individual opinions as to the qualities he should be looking for.”

Murray will likely meet with council members in the next two

weeks.

After more than two decades as city attorney, Burnham will be hard

to replace, city officials said.

He was a jack of all trades with expertise in airport matters,

which are particularly important to the city, said City Councilman

Steve Bromberg. As a lawyer himself, Bromberg will be looking for an

expert in municipal law, who also has courtroom experience and can

think creatively, he said.

The top issues the new lead council will face include ongoing

annexation procedures for West Santa Ana Heights, agreements

regarding heightened influence at John Wayne Airport and developing

relationships with county, state and federal elected officials,

Bromberg said.

“In Newport Beach it’s different -- a city attorney is part of the

management team, and that management team involves the city manager

and the assistant city managers as well as department heads,”

Bromberg said. “The city attorney’s going to work on projects that

don’t always involve legal issues.”

The new city attorney also will have to deal with community groups

on hot-button issues such as the Greenlight law, which requires a

public vote on development projects that exceed the city’s general

plan by at least 40,000 square feet.

“We’ve enjoyed working with Bob Burnham and appreciate his

competency and hope that the new city attorney will have an equal

grasp of city matters,” Greenlight committee spokesman Phil Arst

said.

Revisions to Greenlight guidelines are complete for now, but a

lawsuit Greenlight leaders filed against the city over those

guidelines has not been settled because of a few outstanding issues,

Arst said.

The council will take as much time as it needs to find a city

attorney who is a good fit for Newport Beach, Bromberg said.

“We want to get the right person, a person who can work with a

very diversified community, a community with high expectations, [and]

I think a community that is very involved and watches their

government pretty closely,” Bludau said.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.