Azusa : Firm, City Attorney Fired

Meeting with a bare quorum, a majority of only two City Council members last week fired the law firm that has provided the city’s legal services since 1957.

In a special closed session Monday, the council voted 2 to 0, with the third member abstaining, to terminate the law firm Burke, Williams and Sorensen and current City Attorney Bob Wadden. According to the rules governing quorum meetings, a majority of those present is sufficient to pass a motion, City Clerk Adolph A. Solis said.

Mayor Eugene F. Moses, who made the motion, later said the move was not directed at Wadden personally, but at the firm in general. Councilman Stephen J. Alexander, who voted for the motion, cited extensive legal fees as a factor in his dissatisfaction with the firm. He declined to elaborate in an interview.