Firm might replace city attorney in the interim

The Chula Vista City Council plans to hire an interim city attorney upon the departure of Glen Googins, who has accepted a job in Silicon Valley.

Googins is expected to begin as Santa Clara’s city attorney March 1, following his appointment Jan. 10. His last day working for Chula Vista would be sometime in late February, he said.

“I’m really, really excited about this opportunity. But I’m equally sad about leaving you all and city leadership and all the great things that we have going on here. So, definitely mixed feelings on myself,” Googins told the City Council last week.

He recommended they hire an outside firm that specializes in municipal law. Some suggestions he offered to them included Best Best and Krieger LLP; Lounsbery, Ferguson, Altona and Peak; McDougal, Love, Boehmer, Foley, Lyon and Mitchell; and Burke, Williams and Sorensen.

“We think this gets you, the city, city staff, the benefit of a truly professional and qualified legal professional in a nonpolitical way, not somebody who’s going to run for office or even run for office during the impending election,” he said.

Googins has served as Chula Vista’s city attorney since 2010 and is barred by term limits from running again. Last year, voters elected the late Simon Silva to replace him, but Silva died in September. Googins said he would remain in the position on an interim basis, awaiting Santa Clara’s vote on his appointment.

He said hiring outside counsel will also add resources as opposed to reallocating existing resources.

Council members unanimously agreed to create an ad hoc committee that would interview and recommend firms to the City Council, which would ultimately appoint a temporary hire. The ad hoc committee will include Mayor John McCann and Councilmember Carolina Chavez.

A recommendation could come before the City Council sometime in February to avoid service interruption, said Googins.