Supervisors Approve Attorney’s Hiring

A majority of county supervisors Tuesday ratified the hiring of a private attorney to represent the county in lawsuits challenging plans for a commercial airport at El Toro Marine base, rejecting assertions that the action violated state law.

In a closed session that stretched to two hours, County Counsel Laurence M. Watson produced an informal opinion written by a deputy state attorney general supporting Watson’s decision to hire Carlsbad attorney Michael Gatzke in January 1997 to handle El Toro litigation.

Supervisor Todd Spitzer contended the decision should have been made by the Board of Supervisors, which has oversight responsibility over hiring private counsel. This week, Gatzke submitted an accounting that included about $585,000 in unpaid bills out of nearly $1 million in costs for his legal work from January 1997 through the end of February 1998.

Supervisor Tom Wilson, who earlier questioned the priority of Gatzke’s hiring, said he was swayed by the deputy attorney general’s opinion. He said he and Spitzer wanted an independent review of the hiring decision and, though unexpected, the opinion produced by Watson answered his questions.

In addition to supporting Gatzke, Wilson joined Supervisors Jim Silva, William G. Steiner and Charles V. Smith in giving Watson a vote of confidence. Spitzer abstained.

“What I have asked for is that we have more oversight with this, and that we get quarterly reports on the costs,” Wilson said.

Spitzer, a former prosecutor, remained unconvinced, saying the interpretation by a single deputy wasn’t a formal office opinion and, in fact, contradicted one issued formally by the office in 1991. He said he’ll ask his colleagues to seek a new formal opinion on the question, which takes up to 60 days.

“This is very important because of the critical issues of law and public policy,” Spitzer said. He added that the matter should be brought to a judge for a court interpretation, but said he wasn’t “encouraging a lawsuit.”

Deputy Atty. Gen. Gregory Gonot’s opinion stated that as long as the board approved Gatzke’s overall contract for aviation-related legal services--which it did in 1994--the board didn’t need to approve his representation for every lawsuit. Watson contended that he was given management responsibility over outside counsel in 1991.

Wilson said Watson told the board Tuesday that he could use Gatzke on any aviation-related legal matter involving John Wayne Airport, El Toro or Tustin Marine base unless the board decided by a four-fifths vote to hire someone else. Gatzke first began representing the county on property-damage issues relating to John Wayne Airport in 1969.

Spitzer said such an interpretation amounts to a blank check for an attorney hired by a previous board and ignores each current board member’s oversight responsibility, which is required by the state government code.

Spitzer said that had he not asked about it, supervisors would not have known about Gatzke’s billings of $938,194. Nor would they have known about another $4.1 million in legal bills paid since 1993 to an attorney for a separate law firm involved with litigation over the construction of John Wayne Airport.

Both sets of billings were made public by Watson on Monday.

Before the closed meeting Tuesday, several speakers questioned supervisors during the open portion of the board hearing. Three of those who spoke are candidates for countywide office in the June election.

Huntington Beach Councilman Dave Sullivan and former Costa Mesa Councilwoman Sandy Genis, both challenging board Chairman Jim Silva for his supervisorial seat, called for comprehensive audits of all of the county’s outside attorneys and how much they have cost.

“It’s not your job to delegate, it’s your job to supervise,” Genis said.

Bill Kogerman, executive director of Taxpayers for Responsible Planning, a group opposed to a commercial airport at El Toro, said the issue posed the “biggest issue of credibility since the bankruptcy.”