1_LBBJ_Mar4_SectionA_LBBJ MASTER LAYOUT 3/2/14 4:38 PM Page 19
POLITICALWIRE – CITY ATTORNEY’S RACE March 4-17, 2014
James Johnson James Johnson was born in Long Beach, graduating from Poly High School. He received an economics degree from Harvard in 2000 and his Juris Doctor in 2004 from Berkeley Law School (“I got Order of the Coif, meaning I was in the top 10 percent of the class”). He was admitted to the State Bar of California in December 2004. He was a litigation associate with Morrison & Foerster from 2004 to 2006, then joined the Long Beach City Clerk’s Department (2006) as a senior policy advisor (“We did revise the city charter structurally for the first time in 20 years”). From 20082010 he was assistant city auditor in the Long Beach City Auditor’s Department (“I helped review contracts, interpret CalPERS regulations for our pension system, make sure that people are compliant with our tax ordinances, etc.”). In 2010 he was elected to represent the 7th City Council District. He initially announced he was seeking a second term on the city council, then changed his mind and decided to run for city attorney. He and his wife, Nicole, have two children. Steve Cooley; former Gov. George Deukmejian, who also served as attorney general for the state; five retired judges of the Superior Court; and three former Long Beach city attorneys. Parkin earned these endorsements because of his experience, not due to politics. While most of Johnson’s “name” endorsements are outside the city, Parkin’s are within, including former councilmembers Rae Gabelich, Jackie Kell, Tonia Reyes Uranga, Doug Drummond, Frank Colonna, Doris Topsy-Elvord and Val Lerch – an interesting mix of supporters which indicates they recognize that this complex job requires an experienced hand. We know Parkin is a well respected professional. However, we question Johnson’s conduct and maturity. For example, the Business Journal challenged Johnson to respond to a rumor that, during a recent Democratic Party gathering, he publicly referred to Parkin as a “good old white boy.” Johnson’s response: “Sometimes you make jokes. I may have said something along those lines. I did not call him a good old white boy. What I said was I think the people
Long Beach Business Journal 19 have the right to choose here. And I think it’s an old boys’ network where basically the old city attorney passes down the new city attorney. And I oppose that. I may have said something along the lines of there’s nothing wrong with white guys, I am one myself, but I do think the people have the right to choose. I think that’s the big issue here. One issue in the race is do people have the right to choose whoever they want, or should the last city attorney pick the new city attorney? That’s the question.” We’re not sure where Johnson is coming from. Voters always have a right to choose. It’s called an election, and promoting from within is admirable. Lastly, serving as city attorney requires an individual to be independent and not beholding to any group. Yet, when asked, Johnson admitted to signing a pledge statement from a local union (Parkin said he did not sign the pledge). Here’s our exchange with Johnson, which, again, is further evidence of his misunderstanding of the office: LBBJ: Have you signed a pledge from the Southern California District Council of the ILWU [International Longshore and Warehouse Union]? Johnson: I did sign the ILWU pledge. LBBJ: Why would you sign it if you are trying to be independent? Johnson: Well, I looked at it and a lot of it, frankly, was not relevant to the city attorney’s race. LBBJ: So why sign? It reads: “I will unflinchingly support organized labor, collective bargaining and workers’ rights.” That’s a pretty strong statement to agree to. Johnson: I support their legal right to organize. That’s the law. What am I going to say, that I will not support that right? LBBJ: How about, “I will not support the subcontracting of public services?” Johnson: Let’s talk about that. As the city attorney, you are not a policy maker. Of course I’m not going to support it because I’m not going to advocate for it either way. So the way I saw that was, a lot of that was frankly written for people running for city council and mayor. It was not addressed to city attorney because most people understand what the city attorney does. And so it was pretty easy to sign it because, in a sense, I know it’s not going to constrain me as an elected official. I’m going to be the city attorney who does not take these policy positions. I’m going to advise the city council, so of course I’m not going to support various things. I generally have not signed pledges, but in this case I felt that it would not constrain me as an elected official because they weren’t really relevant to the aspects of the city attorney. So while I didn’t sign pledges when I ran for city council, in this case, since it’s irrelevant to my duties, I didn’t see any harm to the people of Long Beach. The question is, will it affect your independence as a city attorney. I felt like it would not. That was my decision.” (Please Continue To Page 20)
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