Azusa : City Picks New Attorney

After a heated debate over last month’s decision by two council members to fire the law firm that has represented the city since 1957, the full City Council voted 3 to 2 last week to hire an Irwindale lawyer as interim city attorney.

At a special meeting Aug. 31, Mayor Eugene F. Moses and Councilman Stephen J. Alexander voted to terminate Robert V. Wadden and his firm, Burke, Williams & Sorensen, effective in 30 days.

But last Tuesday, Councilwoman Cristina Cruz-Madrid joined Moses and Alexander in a vote to terminate Wadden immediately and retain Henry S. Barbosa of the firm Barbosa, Garcia & Barnes.

Moses and Madrid said they had met privately with Barbosa, and Alexander said he was familiar with the 12-attorney firm. But Councilmen Anthony Naranjo and John R. Dangleis protested that they had received no information on Barbosa.

Naranjo called the hiring a “political appointment,” and Dangleis said it was unprofessional to hire a firm without receiving bids from any other firms.

Madrid said she voted to fire Burke, Williams & Sorensen because the firm billed the city $1 million last year, which she considered excessive. Also, she said, unlike Barbosa, who had been her classmate in school, the firm did not have ties to the community.