Council announces unanimous selection of Susanna Alkawood as next city attorney

The San Jose City Council reported out of closed session that it had unanimously selected Susanna Alkawood as the City of San Jose’s next city attorney. The announcement came after council members described a competitive search process organized by a professional search firm and supported by human resources.

Council commended outgoing City Attorney Nora for years of service and said the new selection followed a multi‑stage review that included written responses, interviews and background checks. Susanna Alkawood introduced herself to the council and said she is “looking forward to meeting with you and working with your whole team as we get to the important work in front of us,” and thanked former city attorneys for mentoring her.

The council welcomed Alkawood and indicated the transition will proceed with staff-level coordination. No formal ordinance or contract vote was recorded on the council floor that day; the closed‑session announcement recorded unanimous council support for the appointment.

Actions - kind: appointment motion: "Report out selection of Susanna Alkawood as City Attorney following closed session process; unanimous council support." mover: "Mayor Matt Mahan" second: "not specified" vote_record: [{member:"All present councilmembers",vote:"unanimous"}] tally: {yes:10,no:0,abstain:0} outcome: "selected" notes: "Council will proceed with transition; formal employment documents handled by city manager/staff."

Speakers - {"name":"Susanna Alkawood","role_title":"City Attorney (select)","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"City of San Jose (incoming)","first_reference":{"timecode":"00:09:15","transcript_line_range":[3354,3383]}} - {"name":"Mayor Matt Mahan","role_title":"Mayor","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"City of San Jose","first_reference":{"timecode":"00:09:01","transcript_line_range":[3347,3354]}}

Authorities - {"type":"other","name":"City appointment process (closed session)","citation":"not specified","referenced_by":["new-city-attorney-selection"]}

Clarifying_details - {"category":"search_process","detail":"Professional search firm used; multi-stage interviews and checks; unanimous council selection in closed session","source_speaker":"Mayor Matt Mahan"}

proper_names:[{"name":"Office of the City Attorney","type":"agency"}], searchable_tags:["city attorney","appointment"], meeting_context:{"engagement_level":{"speakers_count":3,"duration_minutes":20,"items_count":1},"implementation_risk":"low","history":[{"date":"2025-05-01","note":"Search began after announcement of incumbent retirement"}]}