National City public commenters press for independent city attorney; council meets in closed session and reports no action

National City councilors heard several public commenters press the council on the selection and role of the city attorney and then recessed to closed session to discuss the position; after about 55 minutes in closed session, the council reported there was no reportable action.

At the start of public comment the mayor called speakers and limited remarks to two minutes each. McCarthy accused city leadership of conflicts of interest and said, “Losing $10,000,000 on a ****** harassment case and many other cases, the city has lost at the expense of the people,” and urged the council to “implement drug testing” for the city attorney’s office and to ensure the attorney serves the public interest rather than political interests. Michela Polanco told the council the city attorney should be independent and “not politically connected to any of you,” and argued that greater transparency and adherence to planning and process would have prevented legal exposure.

Doyle Morrison questioned how the council enforces the posted 30‑minute public comment window and asked whether the mayor controls speaker allocations; Morrison also said the city attorney should protect the council from “Brown Act violations,” citing previous instances when items were placed on the agenda without public notice. A later commenter recounted past Brown Act concerns and reminded members they are required to take Brown Act and fair political practices training.

Before recessing, Mayor Ron Morrison said the council would convene in closed session and the assistant city attorney introduced the item as Government Code 54957(b)(1), public employment — position of city attorney. The assistant city attorney later reported the council met in closed session from approximately 03:15 to 04:10 p.m. and that there was no reportable action. The mayor then adjourned the meeting.

The public comments focused on demands for an independent, transparent city attorney’s office and raised multiple allegations and concerns (including a $10 million loss and alleged procedural violations); the closed session produced no formal decision that was reportable to the public.

Next steps: the council provided no additional public timeline for filling or changing the city attorney position; no votes or motions were reported in open session.