Filarsky v. Delia: An Unqualified Win for Qualified Immunity, continued from page 7
continuing to provide public services at their traditional level yet, at the same time, reducing if not stabilizing service costs.” This observation, made almost 30 years ago by Philip D. Kahn in Privatizing Municipal Legal Services, remains apt in the challenging financial circum-
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stances most local government agencies face today. One tool that cities have used to continue providing services in a costeffective and fiscally responsible manner is municipal outsourcing. Indeed, hundreds of cities in California contract out the position of city attorney to a private attorney or law firm. R T
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City Manager, City of Marina, CA The City of Marina, CA (population 20,000) is located on the Monterey Peninsula along the Central California coast, minutes away from the world-renowned Monterey Bay Aquarium. The City of Marina is now seeking a new City Manager to oversee a staff of 92 full-time employees and a FY 2012/2013 expenditure budget of $17 million. The new City Manager should be able to evaluate the organization’s structure and staff to ensure alignment with the vision and mission of the City Council. The ideal candidate for City Manager will be a skilled leader capable of earning the trust and respect of the Council, staff, and community and will possess the ability to evaluate the best balance between the use of staff and consultants to achieve the most effective use of the City’s resources. Strong candidates will likely have experience as a City Manager, Assistant City Manager, or Department Head. Candidates should possess a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration, Business Administration, or a related field; a master’s degree is desirable. The salary for the City Manager is open and dependent upon qualifications. If you are interested in this outstanding opportunity, please apply online at www.bobmurrayassoc.com. Please contact Bob Murray at (916) 784-9080 should you have any questions. Brochure available. Closing date December 14, 2012. phone 916•784•9080 fax 916•784•1985 www.bobmurrayassoc.com
Public Works Director/City Engineer (An at-will position)
City of Carson, California Salary: $10,785 - $13,763/month Plus superior benefits Final Filing Date is Thursday, 1/24/13, by 6:00 p.m. A completed original City of Carson employ ment application is required. For additional infor mation regarding this excellent career opportunity, please call City of Carson Human Resources @ 310.952.1736 MondayThursday, 7:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
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Under general direction of the City Manager, plans, directs, and oversees a broad range of City Engineering, public works maintenance services, including, but not limited to, engineering, landscape and building maintenance, and public works (streets, trees, concrete and equipment maintenance). This position also serves as the City Engineer and responsible for overseeing and directing the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the City’s infrastructure system as well as the processing of entitlements for all private development. QUALIFICATION: Bachelor’s degree in public administration, business administration and/or engineering and seven years of full time senior management experience in an operations department in a government agency including at least two years of experience managing a professional engineering department. A valid California Land Surveyor registration and master’s degree in a related field is preferred. Possession of a valid certificate of Registration as a Professional Civil Engineer to practice in the State of California is required.
League of California Cities
In addition to the financial considerations that drive outsourcing, cities long have retained private attorneys on a temporary basis for a variety of reasons, including: • Limitations on in-house staff resources and time. Many smaller cities simply lack the legal staff to complete all needed tasks given the complex and ever-changing legal environment for public agencies, and even larger cities may lack sufficient legal staff for especially large tasks; • The need to secure specialized expertise that in-house attorneys for a city, whether small or large, may need for a particular matter or a limited time; and • The need to avoid actual or potential conflicts of interest and to secure independent legal opinions. A city’s use of a private attorney with specialized experience in personnel matters and with particular expertise in conducting internal affairs investigations became the subject of the Filarsky case.
Background on the Filarsky Case In Filarsky, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had earlier concluded that the firefighter’s Fourth Amendment right www.cacities.org