Council Picks Howard to Run City Attorney’s Office

Thirteen is a lucky number for Scott H. Howard, Glendale’s newly appointed city attorney.

That’s the number of years it took Howard to rise from junior member of the city attorney’s staff to head of the department. He succeeds Frank R. Manzano, who retired in November at the age of 62 after 13 years as city attorney.

Howard’s appointment was announced Monday by Mayor Jerold Milner, who said Scott was selected after the five-member City Council interviewed six finalists for the position on Friday. Howard’s annual salary is $85,428. He heads a staff of seven attorneys and six clerical workers.

Howard, 39, formerly senior assistant city attorney, was one of 14 candidates recommended for the job by a San Mateo employee recruitment firm hired by the city. “The decision to select Scott was a real difficult one,” Milner said. “Of the six finalists that we interviewed, any one of them could have handled the job well.”

Milner said the council was particularly interested in hiring a city attorney capable of anticipating new legislative and judicial developments that affect local government. “We want someone who is alert to the trends,” Milner said, particularly issues that threaten to jeopardize home rule by local governments.

Howard said he envisions playing a significant role in politics by alerting local leaders to the potential legal and political ramifications of issues such as land use, traffic management, air quality and waste management.

“The city has many challenging issues facing it right now which require management involvement from all departments,” Howard said. “They are issues that won’t go away. We need to be proactive rather than just a group of lawyers reacting to problems.”

The new city attorney ran unsuccessfully in 1988 against Glendale Municipal Judge Barbara Lee Burke. He said he spent about $30,000 on the race and picked up almost 13,000 votes--about 35% of the total.

Howard received a degree in business administration from USC in 1972 and graduated from Southwestern University School of Law in 1976, when he was admitted to the California State Bar. He worked as an unpaid law clerk for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office in Glendale before joining the Glendale city attorney’s staff in January, 1977.

Howard is married to Juli Scott, acting city attorney of Burbank. They have two children and live in Studio City.