Milpitas council appoints Christopher Creech acting city attorney, forms recruitment subcommittee

The Milpitas City Council voted unanimously on May 6 to appoint Assistant City Attorney Christopher Creech as acting city attorney and to form a council subcommittee to help recruit a permanent city attorney.

Council disclosed the action at the meeting’s 7:12 p.m. report-out from closed session. Acting City Attorney Christopher Creech was named in the closed-session report as the unanimous selection to serve in the acting role. The council also voted to create a recruitment subcommittee consisting of Vice Mayor Barbara Diaz and Council Member Chua to work with staff on the search for a permanent city attorney.

Council later placed the appointment on the open meeting agenda as a formal resolution. Assistant City Manager Matt Cano told the council the item “puts in document form the formal appointment of the acting city attorney and authorizes me or my designee to take other actions as necessary for purposes of this appointment.” Council Member Chua moved the resolution and Council Member Lien seconded the motion; the council recorded unanimous aye votes.

The council’s open-session action memorialized the closed-session decisions reported earlier and authorized administrative steps needed to implement the appointment. No additional conditions or limitations on the acting city attorney’s authority were stated in the public record.

The council also recorded the formation of the two-person recruitment subcommittee (Vice Mayor Barbara Diaz and Council Member Chua) during the closed-session report. The subcommittee will work with staff on recruitment for the permanent city attorney position; no timeline was specified in the meeting minutes.

The council’s action was procedural: it converts the closed-session appointment into an open-session resolution and establishes a two-member subcommittee to support recruitment work by staff. Further recruitment steps and any subsequent hires will be reported at future meetings.