Council names new city attorney
A new attorney has been selected to serve the city of Woodland after a sevenyear veteran was tapped by Gov. Gavin Newsom to be a Sacramento County judge.
Acting Tuesday night during a teleconference, the council approved on a 5-0 vote, the retention of Ethan Walsh to replace Kara Ueda. Walsh is an attorney for Best Best & Krieger LLP, a Sacramento firm that provides legal services to municipalities.
Ueda, who was assigned to represent Woodland in 2013, was appointed to the Sacramento bench by Newsom about two weeks ago. She will be finishing her stint in Woodland soon.
The city attorney advises the council and city on legal matters relating to contracts, public hearings and the Brown Act, which governs how city officials interact with the public during open meetings. The attorney is always present during a council meeting to shortstop any potential legal issues.
“To maintain continuity during this abbreviated short transition, it is recommended that the city continue to use BB&K for city attorney and legal services,” stated City Manager Ken Hiatt in a report to the council. “The recommended amendment to the
BB&K contract effectively designates Ethan Walsh as the City Attorney on a going-forward basis.”
Hiatt noted Walsh has over 20 years of public agency legal experience in California. Most recently, Walsh has served as the city attorney for the city of Winters and assistant city attorney for St. Helena.
All other terms and conditions of Woodland’s agreement with BB&K will continue unchanged. The city’s contract with BB&K states in part that legal services are billed at $185 an hour for attorneys, $116 an hour for clerks and $100 for paralegals. If the work of a full BB&K partner is involved for special services, the fees rise to $235 an hour. Those rates are in addition to a standard legal services contract.
As it was likely Ueda’s last meeting, council members offered their appreciation for her work over the years and wished her continued success.
Both councilmen Enrique Fernandez and Tom Stallard complimented her skills and background. Both are attorneys with Stallard graduating from UC Davis and Fernandez having sat in on legal sessions at UCD with Ueda.
Ueda, 45, is a resident of Davis and has been a partner at BB&K since 2010, and served as an adjunct professor at the UCD School of Law from 2012 to 2019.
She is scheduled to fill a new position created on Sept. 24 at the Sacramento court.