Vallejo hired crisis PR firm to help city attorney
The city of Vallejo hired a crisis PR firm last August to help the city attorney “facilitate favorable outcomes” in various court cases against the city of Vallejo, the Times-Herald has learned. According to a consulting contract obtained by this newspaper, the city agreed to spend up to $50,000 for Sacramento-based Heenan Communications to assist then Vallejo City Attorney Claudia Quintana with the development of litigation strategies.
The city enacted the contract as it prepared for several high-profile lawsuits involving the Vallejo Police Department, chief among them a federal lawsuit filed last June over the death of Willie McCoy, who was shot dozens of times by six officers in February 2019. The McCoy suit, filed through the law offices of civil rights attorney John Burris, called for a federal monitor of the police department.
Heenan Communications, on its website, offers PR services in “crisis management,” and touts its work for farmers in the Salinas Valley area who were blamed for an e. coli outbreak in spinach that affected 217 people across eight states.
“We can help you shape and refine your message. We can help you convey that message to the audiences you need to reach in the press, government and regulatory agencies, and among your employees and customers,” Heenan’s website says. “Whether it’s a labor dispute that threatens to erode brand reputation,
regulatory tangles that create shareholder unease, pending litigation with dangerous potential or simply the need to speak more clearly with your customers, we can help.”
The city’s contract says hiring Heenan was “necessary” to help the city attorney defend current and pending lawsuits.
“To that end, consultant shall help the city attorney develop litigation strategies in selected pre-litigation and litigation cases, helping to maneuver lawsuits into an optimal position for either settlement or successful defense verdict as appropriate,” the contract reads.
The contract’s term spanned from Aug. 1, 2019 through Jan. 31, 2020. In a separate public records request from the Times-Herald, the city provided an invoice from Heenan showing that the city paid $28,609 for services between Aug. 1 through Nov. 13, 2019.
Interestingly, the contract also stipulated that the consultant, Michael Heenan, could help the city communicate with potential judges and jurors in future cases involving the city of Vallejo.
“To facilitate communications internally among the
various involved employees, officials, and agents of the city of Vallejo and externally to potential judges and potential jurors to help the city attorney position cases in a manner to facilitate favorable outcomes in litigation and pre-litigation matters handled by the city attorney’s office,” the contract states.
Quintana did not immediately return a request for comment.
It was a rough 2019 for Quintana, who was in the spotlight following a series of controversies. She came under fire after sending a letter to Solano County judges, asking them to take action against illegal dumping.
The letter didn’t go to any attorneys involved with illegal dumping cases involving Vallejo, a failure that presiding Judge John Ellis wrote was concerning.
Ellis wrote that Quintana’s letter constituted an “ex parte” conversation, a legal term that refers to communication between attorneys and judges where not all relevant parties are present. It is a fundamental ethical rule, in place to ensure the fairness of the legal system, and is codified in ethical guidelines for both judges and attorneys.
Quintana refused to remedy the situation suggested by Ellis.
Then, in an interview with Reason magazine, Quintana suggested journalists had an “investigatory bias seeking to influence judicial and settlement outcomes,” against the city, which has paid out $7 million to settle lawsuits and legal claims against Vallejo police since 2011.
In September 2019, the council gave Quintana a five percent raise, bumping her annual salary to $219,760. Then, a month later she gave a six-month notice announcing her retirement.
The council has since named Randy Risner as the city’s interim city attorney, while Quintana remains as an adviser until her official retirement in April.
The city has looked to outside counsel to represent it in two high-profile cases.
In addition to defending the McCoy suit, the firm of Allen, Glaessner, Hazelwood & Werth has been hired to defend Vallejo police officer David McLaughlin, who was seen in a now viral video tackling Adrian Burrell as he filmed from the porch of his Vallejo home in January 2019.