Making a switch to hire an in-house city attorney – and putting the days of city reliance on a huge San Jose-based law firm, Berliner-Cohen – has the potential to be a very good thing for Gilroy.
It’s been long under consideration, but change in entrenched government bureaucracy – even on the local level – is painstakingly difficult to make. The Council, however, has made the right move – empowering a three-member sub-committee of Council members to seek a qualified city attorney.
Moreoever, the timeline is set up to provide for a smooth transition to a new system headed by the right person. While contracting out has its advantages in areas such as park maintenance or street sweeping, having a city attorney who is accessible and available for the Council and the administrative staff and who is linked to do what’s best for Gilroy in a truly tangible way, is a huge advantage.
A clear Council majority that included Mayor Don Gage, Councilmembers Cat Tucker, Dion Bracco, Peter Leroe-Muñoz and Perry Woodward, who has consistently brought this issue up, joined forces to make this sea change. Gage, Woodward and Tucker will form the sub-committee.
In any substantial change like this, there are reservations. While those deserve scrutiny and evaluation as the Council moves forward, worries about expertise and employee pension costs for such a small numbered department do not outweigh the potential benefits of increased communication and dedicated representation.
Will the costs go down? It’s a fair question, and one that’s answered best after an evaluation period of three years or so. Perhaps the first contract with a city attorney can be for that duration, making it an obvious time for the Council to fairly run the numbers.
It’s a testament to the Council’s cohesiveness that such a change could take place without rancor. Linda Callon and Berliner-Cohen will be thanked for their long service and Gilroy will step into a new era after a thorough search for an attorney who will become the new advocate for what’s best for Gilroy.
