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Mayor and council discuss adding in‑house prosecution unit and election integrity team to city attorney budget
Summary
Mayor proposed $500,000 to create an in‑house prosecution/legal litigation unit and $120,000 for a municipal transparency and election integrity unit inside the City Attorney’s Office; council discussed staffing, potential cost savings from reducing outside counsel and requested position authorizations and funding detail.
During the budget hearings the mayor proposed adding $500,000 to the City Attorney’s Office to create an in‑house prosecution and litigation unit and asked staff to add four support positions (details to be developed with administration) so the city could reduce reliance on outside counsel. The mayor argued a local prosecution unit could improve responsiveness on misdemeanor and quality‑of‑life cases and save money long term by moving work from outside counsel to in‑house staff.
The mayor also moved $120,000 to create a municipal transparency and election‑integrity unit in the City Attorney’s Office to allow faster city responses on election controversies and to work in parallel where the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) has slower timelines. The City Attorney described the office’s current workload, including a sharp rise in criminal cases handled locally and several new enforcement programs (wage theft, smoke shop investigations) supported with state and grant funds.
Council members questioned staffing vs. outsourcing tradeoffs, the start‑up cost of new positions, and how quickly newly created positions could be onboarded. The City Attorney and city manager said some of the work could be offset by future savings through reduced outside counsel spending and that personnel classifications/positions would need to be added to the annual salary resolution and to the PCN (position authorization) as part of enabling documents. No formal appropriations vote was recorded in the hearing; the mayor’s motions were recorded as requests the council consider as part of the FY26 enabling documents.
Motions proposed at the hearing: the mayor proposed adding $500,000 and four positions for an in‑house prosecution/litigation unit and separately proposed $120,000 for a municipal transparency and election integrity unit. Staff said these would be classified as general‑fund obligations and would require position authorization and enabling documents.
