SUBJECT: APPROVAL OF CONTRACT AND APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS TO PROVIDE CITY PROSECUTOR SERVICES FOR CODE ENFORCEMENT OF THE BUILDING CODE AND ZONE CODE

 

Recommendation:

That the City Council:

1. Approve the contract with Mayer & Coble for city prosecutor services.
2. Appropriate $8,000 for the anticipated cost to provide service for remainder of the fiscal year from the General Fund balance.

 

Background:

The City formerly shared the Police Department’s City Prosecutor who has declined to continue providing services for Building Code and Zone Code enforcement. It is necessary to retain the services of a qualified city prosecutor to assist staff in obtaining compliance for building and safety and zoning violations. Currently, the City has no means to ensure compliance for Stop Work Orders, and other orders to comply in connection with discretionary permits, building permits, construction projects and illegal construction. There are currently 12 outstanding cases involving illegal construction or non-permitted uses which require the assistance from a city prosecutor to obtain compliance.

 

Analysis:

The firm of Mayer & Coble was selected as the most qualified firm to provide city prosecution services, based upon interviews and proposals provided by three firms. The firms interviewed were Mayer & Coble, Dapeer, Rosenblit and Litvak and Burke, Williams & Sorensen.

Mayer & Coble currently provides similar code enforcement service for the cities of Rolling Hills Estates, La Mirada, Brea, West Covina, Covina, Rancho Cucamonga and Upland. The firm formerly represented the City of Manhattan Beach as well. The firm’s focus is on obtaining voluntary compliance, rather than prosecuting a case, however, cases are readily filed for prosecution when required. All contact with the City Prosecutor will occur through the City.

The firm’s proposal includes:

• Providing a City Prosecutor and Deputy City Prosecutor for office conferences with violators.
• Assisting with investigative reports on code enforcement cases.
• Providing related secretarial service for preparing court documentation.
• Case filing.

The cost for the service is billed at the rate of $125 per hour. Staff expects 60 hours of service required over this fiscal year to complete code enforcement work.. Unusual costs for preparing depositions, reporting costs and outside copying or delivery costs are additional.

Staff contacted the references in the proposal and they indicated their satisfaction with the firm. (See attached).

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