Alison Alpert Alison D. Alpert is a partner and practice group leader of the Labor & Employment group at Best Best & Krieger LLP. Ms. Alpert represents private and public employers in a broad range of employment litigation including harassment, wrongful termination, retaliation and discrimination based upon gender, race, national origin, age and disability. Ms. Alpert also frequently advises clients concerning employee handbooks and employment policies related to harassment, wage and hour issues, workplace violence, drug and alcohol testing, privacy, discipline and termination. Ms. Alpert additionally has significant experience in representing and advising clients on issues related to public access and accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Ms. Alpert also regularly participates as a speaker in labor and employment seminars, speaking on issues of family and medical leave, drug and alcohol policies and disability issues. Ms. Alpert graduated from Pomona College with a degree in Government in 1995. She received her law degree from the University of at Davis, King Hall in 1998. While attending UC Davis, she was an intern for the United States Attorney's Office Eastern District of California and participated in a civil rights clinic.

485 Michael Colantuono Michael G. Colantuono is a shareholder in Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley, a municipal law firm with offices in and Nevada County. Chief Justice Ronald M. George presented him with the 2010 Public Lawyer of the Year award on behalf of the California State Bar Association. The Los Angeles Daily Journal named him one of “California’s Top Municipal Lawyers” every year since its list began in 2011. He is Treasurer and a Trustee of the State Bar of California, the agency responsible for regulating the practice of law in our State. The State Bar has certified him as an Appellate Specialist and he is a member of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, a prestigious association of fewer than 100 of California’s most distinguished appellate advocates. Michael is one of California’s leading experts on municipal revenues and has appeared in all six Courts of Appeal in California. In addition, he has argued five recent public finance cases in the California Supreme Court: Richmond v. Shasta Community Services District (2004), Bonander v. Town of Tiburon (2009), Greene v. Marin County Flood Control & Water Conservation District (2010) and Alhambra v. County of Los Angeles (2012) and McWilliams v. City of Long Beach (2013). He helped brief a sixth: Ardon v. City of Los Angeles (2011). Michael served on the committee that drafted the League of California Cities’ Proposition 218 Implementation Guide and chaired the subcommittee that drafted what became the “Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Act of 1997.” He also chaired the League Committee which drafted the Proposition 26 Implementation Guide (April 2011) and is now participating in the first appeals under that measure. Michael is City Attorney of Auburn and Grass Valley; General Counsel of the North Yuba Water District and of a number of special districts. He previously served as City Attorney of six other cities and as general counsel of several special districts and other local government agencies. He serves as special counsel to counties, cities and special districts around California. Michael served as President of the City Attorneys Department of the League of California Cities in 2003–2004 and established its first Ethics Committee. He served on the Commission on Local Governance in the 21st Century, the recommendations of which led to substantial revisions of the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act. Michael is General Counsel of the Calaveras, San Diego and Yuba LAFCOs and serves as outside counsel to the Nevada, Orange, and Yolo County LAFCOs. Michael graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with a degree in Government and received his law degree from the Boalt Hall School of Law of the University of California at Berkeley. He frequently posts comments on local government and municipal finance topics to Twitter ( @Mcolantuono ) and LinkedIn ( Michael Colantuono ).

486 Derek Cole Derek Cole is a co-founder and partner of Cota Cole LLP and specializes in municipal law. Mr. Cole is a city attorney for three cities and regularly advises his firm's other public agency clients. Mr. Cole also specializes in municipal litigation and has represented public clients in a wide range of matters in judicial and administrative forums.

487 Timothy Davis Mr. Davis is chairman of the firm's Labor and Employment Law and a partner in our Trial and Advocacy Practice Groups. Mr. Davis has negotiated numerous labor agreements between cities and their employee groups, including police, fire, general employees, and management groups. Additionally, his practice includes internal investigations of employment complaints involving discrimination and harassment as well as the presentation of seminars on how to prevent discrimination and harassment and investigate allegations of discrimination and harassment. He also trains Human Resource professionals and managers regarding proper investigation techniques. His practice also includes development of personnel rules and policies including discipline and grievance procedures, and the investigation of grievances. Mr. Davis is also an experienced litigator who has tried to verdict several employment cases in federal and state courts and conducted over 60 employment arbitrations. Mr. Davis routinely defends employers in litigation matters in actions involving state and federal law, including but not limited to Title VII, California Fair Employment and Housing Act, Americans with Disability Act, Age Discrimination and Employment Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, California Family Rights Act, California Pregnancy Disability Act, Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights, and wage and hour issues. His practice also includes the representation of public employers before state, federal, and local administrative proceedings, including Department of Labor, local civil service commissions, PERB, EEOC, and OSHA. His litigation practice, with substantial emphasis and experience in labor and employment, encompasses all aspects of litigation, including trial, all phases of trial preparation, arguing law and motion matters, taking depositions, preparing and responding to pleadings, drafting and responding to written discovery, and research. Mr. Davis’ reported decisions include Alhambra Police Officers Association v. City of Alhambra, (2003) 113 Cal.App.4th, 413. Mr. Davis received his B.A. degree cum laude in Integral Studies from Saint Mary's College of California in 1992 and his J.D. degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in 1995. Mr. Davis’ commitment and experience in public law began in law school, where he co-authored the article Does a Public Law Attorney Owe a Duty to Third Parties, which appeared in the summer 1994 issue of the Public Law Journal.

488 Sean D. De Burgh Sean De Burgh is an attorney with Cota Cole LLP, servicing clients out of both the Roseville and Ontario offices. Mr. De Burgh represents public and private clients in a wide array of matters in both state and federal courts. Mr. De Burgh’s practice includes litigation, non-litigation advice and general counsel work for numerous public agencies and private clients. His litigation experience has emphasized employment, general liability defense, civil rights, and commercial matters. Mr. De Burgh currently serves as District Counsel for the Olivehurst Public Utility District, Deputy City Attorney for the City of Oroville, and Deputy General Counsel for the San Bernardino International Airport Authority for which he provides the full range of general counsel and litigation services. Mr. De Burgh also serves as Special Counsel for the City of Ontario and was recently appointed as special counsel to the West San Gabriel Joint Powers Authority, a school insurance pool serving school districts located in the San Gabriel area of Los Angeles County. Upon graduating from Brigham Young University, Mr. De Burgh received his law degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. At McGeorge, he was a finalist in regional Client Counseling competitions, and earned honors in Persuasive Legal Writing. He was also on the Dean’s Honor Roll. Mr. De Burgh is dedicated to the diligent, cost-efficient, service oriented practice of law with the highest standards of ethical responsibility. He excels in achieving positive results for his clients faced with complex legal issues and disputes. Mr. De Burgh is a member of the State Bar of California, and is admitted to practice before all California courts and the U.S. District Courts for the Central, Eastern and Northern Districts.

489 Steven L. Dorsey Steven L. Dorsey is a shareholder in the Public Law Department at Richards, Watson & Gershon. Since joining the Firm in 1973, Mr. Dorsey has specialized in public agency law. He currently is City Attorney for the Cities of Buena Park, Norwalk and San Marino. He also serves as counsel for several joint powers authorities. Mr. Dorsey is very active in the League of California Cities and has served as a member of the League's Board of Directors. He also has been President of the City Attorneys' Department, chair of the Department's Legal Advocacy Committee, a member of the Department's Legislative Committee and chair of the City Attorneys' Department Fair Political Practices Commission committee. He currently serves as the League Parliamentarian. Mr. Dorsey was a member of the editorial board that wrote the first edition of the League's Municipal Law Handbook, and personally edited the chapters on Public Property, Public Works and Public Utilities. Mr. Dorsey was also a member of the City Attorneys' Department committee that authored Practicing Ethics: A Handbook for Municipal Lawyers and chaired the committee that updated this publication in 2014. Previously, he chaired the committee that drafted the Ethical Principles for City Attorneys. Mr. Dorsey's practice emphasizes representation of public agencies on conflict of interests and ethics issues. Mr. Dorsey has lectured on these topics on many occasions, including providing a series of presentations with members of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Public Integrity Division.

490 David Gehrig David assists public agency clients with legal issues related to public works construction projects. His clients include cities, transit districts, health care districts and water districts. He has worked on numerous large-scale infrastructure projects from the drafting of the contract specifications, through the bid process, to contract completion and claims resolution. He has considerable experience with contract award disputes, prevailing wage laws, subcontractor substitution issues and bidder pre-qualification. He has also successfully resolved several stop notice lawsuits for public agency clients. David is also well versed in design-build construction, and other alternative project delivery methods. He has prepared contract documents for three high profile public design-build project, each with unique approaches and challenges. David also assists public agency clients with a wide variety of other legal issues. He works on Public Records Act compliance, record retention issues, open meeting laws, and professional service agreements and communication site leases. He serves as general counsel to the Purissima Hills Water District

491 Clare M. Gibson Clare Gibson has been advising clients on bid protests for her entire career. She is the immediate past chapter chair of Chapter 7, Public Contracting, of the The California Municipal Law Handbook. Clare recently submitted an amicus brief and successful request for publication on behalf of the League in the Bay Cities Paving case, which upheld a city’s broad discretion to waive immaterial bidding errors. She is a partner of the law firm of Jarvis Fay Doporto & Gibson in Oakland, where her practice is focused on public contracting and construction law. Clare also serves as Assistant City Attorney for the City of Hercules. She is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley’s Boalt Hall.

492 Eugene Gordon Eugene P. Gordon is a Deputy City Attorney in the San Diego City Attorney's Office. Since February 2008 when he retired from the City, he has been working as a volunteer on a part-time basis in the City Attorney’s Office. He is assigned to the Trial Unit in the Civil Division where he specializes in the defense of personal injury cases brought against the City and its employees. Such litigation involves alleged dangerous conditions of public property, such as highway design and trip-and-fall cases, police K-9 bite cases, false arrest and excessive force cases, including section 1983 cases, and City vehicular accidents.

From 1971 to 1978, Mr. Gordon was Legal Advisor to the San Diego Police Department where he was instrumental in providing legal in-service training programs, including the publication of legal training bulletins for police officers. He provided on-the-scene legal advice to police supervisors in the proper handling of civil demonstrations and disturbances, was available to supervisors and officers in the field for consultation on legal matters, and played an important role in drafting legal policies and procedures. While Police Legal Advisor, Mr. Gordon was a member of the Legal Officers Section of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and in 1976 he was General Chairman of the section. He was also a contributor to the “Chief's Counsel,” a legal column in the “Police Chief Magazine,” a monthly publication of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Mr. Gordon was a prosecutor in the Criminal Division of the City Attorney's Office from 1969 - 1971 where he prosecuted a variety of misdemeanor cases. He served as Assistant Chief Criminal Deputy for one year prior to becoming Police Legal Advisor in May 1971. Mr. Gordon has taught extensively at the San Diego Regional Public Safety Training Institute at Miramar College in San Diego on the subjects of civil and criminal liability of law enforcement officers, constitutional law, and use of force to police recruits, advanced officers and Field Training Officers. He was an instructor in the San Diego Sheriff's Department Academy at Southwestern College on the subject of civil and criminal liability of law enforcement officers, and he taught the sixteen-hour course on search and seizure at the San Diego Police Academy from 1972-1979.

Mr. Gordon has lectured at numerous seminars for police administrators sponsored by the International Association of Chiefs of Police on the subjects of police discipline, civil liability and discovery of police officers' personnel records. He has also lectured on municipal tort liability at NIMLO and League of California Cities conferences. Mr. Gordon has provided legal updates at numerous PRIMA and PARMA conferences.

In 1992, Mr. Gordon served on the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Committee on “Police Use of Force,” Executive Report, July 1992. In 1996, he assisted POST in revising the Police Supervisory Course curricula. Admitted to the California State Bar in 1968, Mr. Gordon received his legal education at Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. He received his B.A. degree from the University of California, Riverside.

493 Gregory Hurley Mr. Hurley is a member of the Attorney Settlement Officer Panel for the U. S. District Court for the Central District of California, having first been continuously appointed to the Panel every year since 2003. He holds a masters certificate from the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, and has tried many national class actions alleging discrimination and violations of the Fair Housing Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act. He has advised the California Supreme Court (through the Administrative Office of the Courts), Covenant Care, Home Depot, Intrawest, Ralph’s / Kroger’s Grocery Stores, Starbucks, Tarsadia Hotels, the Denver Broncos, the San Diego Padres, the U.S. District Court for Eastern District of California, and, the Superior Courts for the Counties of Riverside, Los Angeles, and Alameda on these claims. He has represented the Los Angeles Superior Court System, Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut, Little Caesar’s Pizza, Home Depot, The Irvine Company’s , Office and Resort Properties, 23 Irvine Apartment Communities, Welk Resorts, Live Nation/TicketMaster, Winco, Michaels/Aaron Brothers Craft Stores, Kroger & Grocery Company, Regal Entertainment Group, Landmark Theaters, the National Association of Theater Owners, The National League of Cities, The California Hotel & Lodging Association, with respect to access discrimination claims.

Greg’s trial experience includes trying state and nation wide class actions: He represented California in the largest class action certified against the State, involving more than 10 Million claimants against 4000 miles of Caltrans pedestrian routes and 90 Park & Ride facilities; He defended a class action brought by the ACLU against the entire Los Angeles Superior Court System; A national action brought by the United States Department of Justice against AMC Theaters; A national class action against 80 golf courses owned and operated by Marriott; He is currently defending statewide class actions against Starbucks, In-N-Out Burgers, Auto Club of Southern California, Ralphs Grocery Stores; Adir/La Curacao Store; Sport Chalet; Regency Theaters; and The Irvine Company. In 2012, he successfully de-certified a damage class action against more than 200 Taco Bell stores. Greg’s experience includes substantial appellate work, where, against numerous amici and the US DOJ, he argued and won landmark Ninth Circuit cases: Lonberg v. Sanborn Theaters; Oliver v Ralphs ; and Lonberg v. City of Riverside. He authored United States Supreme Court briefs and Ninth Circuit Appellate briefs for the National Association of Theater Owners, The California and National Restaurant Associations, the California and National League of Cities, and more than 200 California cities. Greg is a nationally recognized attorney on disability law, and the author of the Wiley Law Publications text, Defending Disabled Access Claims, a comprehensive survey of state and federal laws relating to the rights of individuals with disabilities. Greg sat on the committee advising the California State Legislature on revisions to California’s discrimination laws and drafting of the new SB 1186 statute. In his 27 year career, Greg has spoken at more than 100 conferences and written more than 30 articles on access laws.

494 Michael Jenkins Mike currently serves as City Attorney for the cities of Hermosa Beach (since 1996), Rolling Hills (since 1982) and West Hollywood (since 1984) and as General Counsel to the Antelope Valley Mosquito & Vector Control District, Los Angeles County West Vector Control District, Mosquito and Vector Control District, the South Bay Cities Council of Governments and the Westside Cities Council of Governments. He served as President of the City Attorneys Department of the League of California Cities (1993) and chairs the League’s Brown Act Committee. He served as Editor for Open & Public IV, the League’s manual on the Brown Act. Mike also served as President of the City Attorneys Association of Los Angeles County and Member of the Executive Committee of the Public Law Section of the State Bar (and Editor of the Section Newsletter). He teaches local government law at the University of Southern California Law Center. Mike has been practicing law for 36 years, most of that time in the area of municipal law. He was admitted to the State Bar in 1978 immediately following his honors graduation from Duke University School of Law, where he served as Executive Editor of the Duke Law Journal. Mike graduated with highest honors from Haverford College.

495 Lauren Langer Ms. Langer is a municipal lawyer at Jenkins & Hogin, LLP. She serves as Assistant City Attorney for the Cities of Lomita and Hermosa Beach, including serving as counsel to their planning commissions. She also regularly advises the West Hollywood Planning Department and Malibu Environmental Programs Department. In addition to general municipal law matters, Ms. Langer specializes in land use, planning and environmental law, such as Clean Water Act and CEQA compliance. Ms. Langer also handles enforcement and regulatory matters with the State and Regional Water Boards, and litigation for her firm’s clients. Ms. Langer currently serves on the League of California Cities City Attorneys’ Department Medical Marijuana Committee.

496 J. Stephen Lewis Stephen Lewis is general counsel for the City of Santa Monica Rent Control Board, a municipal agency established by Santa Monica's city charter. His work includes advising and representing the elected rent control board, and advising and representing Board members and staff in their official capacities. Previously, Mr. Lewis served for eleven years as a staff attorney for the City of West Hollywood, in which capacity he advised and represented the city in general municipal law matters under the direction of the city attorney.

497 Christian Marsh Christian Marsh is a partner in the San Francisco office of Downey Brand LLP. He advises public and private clients, including cities and counties, on natural resource and land use matters involving water rights, the public trust doctrine, endangered species, wetlands, California planning and zoning law, and NEPA and CEQA review. Among a variety of projects, he has advised clients on small and large-scale residential, commercial, and mixed-use real estate developments, renewable and traditional energy projects, surface and underwater mining operations, and surface and groundwater supply projects throughout California. Christian conducts trial and appellate-level litigation in each of these areas, and was an attorney of record for the prevailing parties in two recent CEQA cases before the California Supreme Court.

498 Shawn M. Mason Shawn M. Mason Shawn Mason has served as the City Attorney for the City of San Mateo since 2003. Shawn previously served as the City Attorney for the City of Rancho Mirage and the City Attorney for the City of Benicia, and as the Deputy and Assistant City Attorney for the City of Thousand Oaks. Shawn presently serves as the Chair of the City Attorneys' Department's FPPC Committee. Shawn has previously served on the Municipal Law Handbook Committee, the Legal Advocacy Committee, and the Nominating Committee.

499 Chris McKenzie Chris McKenzie was appointed in 1999 as the sixth executive director of the League of California Cities, the private nonprofit corporation founded in 1898 that advocates for cities before the Legislature, Governor, and federal and state courts as well as in statewide ballot measure elections. The League also provides extensive training and education services to city officials. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, McKenzie holds a masters degree in urban planning as well as a law degree. His over 30-year career includes stints as a local and state government administrator and attorney as well as statewide association work. He reports to the 52-member League board of directors, comprised of city officials from all regions of the state.

500 Neil Okazaki Neil is a deputy city attorney for the City of Riverside and currently serves as legal advisor to the City’s Police and Fire Departments. Since joining the office, his practice area has involved litigation in the federal and state courts, including matters that have gone before the United States Supreme Court (certiorari petition), the California Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the California Court of Appeal.

Neil received his B.A. from U.C. Riverside. He earned his J.D. from Loyola Law School on a partial scholarship and was a Note and Comment Editor of the Loyola Law Review. Neil’s published law review article was cited by the California Court of Appeal, the Texas Court of Appeals, American Law Reports (A.L.R.), and California Criminal Law (Witkin). Since being sworn in as an attorney, Neil has tried 18 cases (including 15 as sole trial counsel) and completed nine binding arbitrations as sole trial counsel.

For eight years, Neil was been a member of the Leo A. Deegan Inn of Court. For the past four years, he has served on the Attorney Settlement Officer Panel for the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Neil has spoken at the League of California Cities Annual Conference, Legal Secretaries, Inc. (two quarterly conferences), UCR Extension, and UCR Law Day. He has prepared updates to the California Municipal Law Handbook and the LSI Law Office Procedure Manual. Additionally, Neil served five years as a member of the UCR Chancellor’s Advisory Committee for Asian Pacific Islanders. Since January of 2013, he has served on the Board of Directors of the Riverside County Bar Association.

501 Randy Riddle Mr. Riddle advises and represents public sector clients on a wide range of government law issues. Mr. Riddle possesses a unique combination of election law experience, having served as the Richmond City Attorney, Chief Counsel to the California Secretary of State, and counsel to a county registrar of voters. Mr. Riddle provides advice on a wide range of public agency law, including constitutional issues, conflict of interest law and other governmental ethics matters, open government requirements, initiative, referendum and recall petitions, administrative law, the legislative process.

502 Craig Steele Craig A. Steele is a shareholder in the Public Law Department at Richards, Watson & Gershon and serves on the Firm's Management Committee. Mr. Steele has over 20 years of experience practicing local government law and has worked in government and politics for 30 years. Mr. Steele is the City Attorney for the Cities of Highland and Monrovia. He serves as Counsel to the Successor Agency to the redevelopment agencies in both cities and also the former redevelopment agency for the City of Indio. Mr. Steele also serves as General Counsel to the Los Angeles County Children and Families First Proposition 10 Commission ("First 5 LA"). He served as Agoura Hills City Attorney from 1999-2012 and Interim CEO of First 5 LA throughout 2012. In addition to his public agency practice, he has represented candidates for local, state, and federal offices and other private interests on a variety of election and political law matters. He is the author of several local ballot measures, including open space preservation, local taxes, fireworks regulation and transportation. Mr. Steele concentrates on the representation of public agency clients in a wide range of government law areas and has spoken and written extensively on open government issues including Campaign Finance Regulation, Lobbying, Public Records, Open Meeting Laws and Conflicts of Interest Law. His article "The Rules on Lobbying: What Every Local Official Should Know" was published in the January, 2010 issue of Western City Magazine. He is a past member of the FPPC Committee of the League of California Cities' City Attorneys Department and also served on a task force of the Institute for Local Government drafting a resources book on open space acquisition by cities. Mr. Steele is a past President of the Board of Directors of the Community Center of La Cañada Flintridge, a member of the Board of Directors of the Spartan Boosters, and served for seven years as Chair of the La Cañada Unified School District's Bond Oversight Committee.

503 Harriet A. Steiner Harriet Steiner is a partner in the Municipal Law practice group of Best Best & Krieger LLP. Prior to joining the firm in 2010, she was a shareholder with McDonough Holland & Allen in Sacramento. Ms. Steiner’s practice focuses on public law, representing cities, special districts and joint powers agencies as city attorney, general counsel and special counsel. Her areas of specialty include land use, environmental law, telecommunications law and cable television franchising, wastewater and municipal water, and public financing. Ms. Steiner has worked on air quality and transportation matters, including the Clean Air Act and federal transportation requirements and funding, agreements between local governments and Indian tribes, and agricultural and habitat conservation easements. In addition, Ms. Steiner advises public agencies on land use approvals, including negotiation of development agreements, compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act, public financing and Proposition 218 compliance. She has represented public agencies in CEQA and land use litigation, election challenges, public financing and development impact fee challenges, and Proposition 218 litigation. Ms. Steiner has served as city attorney for the City of Davis since 1986. She has assisted the City in the development of its agricultural mitigation ordinance for farmland and habitat preservation, its Affordable Housing Ordinance and its Middle Income/Work Force Housing Inclusionary Housing Ordinance. Ms. Steiner serves as general counsel to the Sacramento Metropolitan Cable Commission, which holds the cable television franchise for the county and the cities within the county. She also represents the City of Modesto on cable and telecommunications matters, as well as other local franchising entities. She has negotiated cable franchise renewals and transfers, franchises with cable overbuilders, and represented franchising entities in cable and wireless cellular tower litigation. She is currently representing municipal clients related to distributed antenna system (DAS) disputes. Ms. Steiner has been liaison to the League of California Cities’ Committee on Revenue & Taxation. She is a member of the Southern California and Nevada chapters of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors and a past president of the Sacramento County Bar Association Public Law Section. Ms. Steiner is a member of the State Bar of California and the League of California Cities. She is a past member of the Legal Advocacy Committee, the City Attorneys’ Legislative Committee and the Bond Financing Ad Hoc Committee related to legal counsel opinion letters, and past co-chair of PG&E’s Re-Franchising Committee.

504 Gregory Stepanicich Greg Stepanicich is a shareholder in the Public Law Department of Richards, Watson & Gershon, and manages the firm's San Francisco office. Greg has represented cities and a wide range of other local public agencies for over 37 years. He is the City Attorney of Fairfield and Mill Valley and Town Attorney of Ross. Greg formerly was the City Attorney of Agoura Hills, Beverly Hills and Seal Beach.

505 Patrick Sullivan University of San Diego School of Law, J.D. 1992. UC San Diego, B.A. 1992. Patrick has been with the City Attorney's Office since 1996. He has done rotations in criminal prosecution, civil litigation, and general support. When he is not at work, he can be found on a field somewhere coaching his four children. His amazing wife is holding down the fort while he is at the League's Spring Conference.

506 Stephen E. Velyvis Specializing in complex public litigation, land use and environmental issues, Mr. Velyvis provides wide-ranging expertise and unique problem solving skills and advice to a diverse body of municipal and public agency clients in administrative proceedings and before state and federal trial and appellate courts. His extensive experience with land use and environmental matters allows him to guide clients through an array of complex issues and disputes, including issues related to sustainable development and climate change. His expertise extends to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the California Coastal Act, as well as the state and federal legal and regulatory frameworks governing clean water, clean air, endangered species and electricity generation and transmission. He also represents clients in land use-related matters including local and state planning and zoning laws, the Subdivision Map Act, timber harvests/timberland conversions, and vineyard expansions. No stranger to the courtroom, Mr. Velyvis has successfully litigated numerous mandamus actions and attorneys’ fees disputes for both private and public agency clients. Most recently, Mr. Velyvis has represented various cities and counties in disputes ranging from challenges to a lot line adjustment ordinance and an exclusive debris-box franchise award, to wrongful termination and whistleblower claims. He also represents and advises school districts on complying with their obligations under CEQA, charter school facilities issues, and other land use matters.

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