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<br />also that the ' b could be better performed by a per n who specialized in such work. I
<br />also attem ed to lessen the Law Department's s1a, vein areas of
<br />service in hich the City's two newest departments-Human Resources and Planning,
<br />operated. While Law historically under Mike Gareau, Sr., provided a lot of legal advice
<br />and othe input into personnel and building and zoning matters, it seemed to me that
<br />talented non-lawyers heading these departments could best serve the City in day-to-day
<br />personnel and building and zoning matters, and much of what they did in these
<br />departments was not in the nature of legal work that needed ~ Law Department
<br />involvement. , o,~.
<br />c,C~~
<br />I also attempted throughout my eighty to provide what I called in my campaign
<br />literature "ahead of the curve" legal advi , so that the City could stay out of court as
<br />much as humanly possible. One of .the 'ngs I learned as an assistant. law director over
<br />the course. of 20 years way that, no matt how worthy your cause, no matter how good
<br />your evidence, no matter how able your orney, litigating any case was filled with a
<br />high risk of failure, waste of time, and a nse to the City, including the possibility of
<br />costly judgments. It is what comes with a ystem that leas most of its judges on name
<br />recognition and then dispenses justice by'~ollowing a mplicated set of rules of
<br />procedure that favors deep pocket litigants and large w firms. °
<br />While there were some accomplishments as noted above during my two terms as Law
<br />Director that I hope improved the operations of the City Law Department, there also
<br />were glaring failures-shortcomings on my part, which I hope this apology will help my
<br />successor and others in the government avoid. ~~ ~j wt,~c,x~ ~~~~ ~
<br />r~,~cc~,~,~,Y,~ ~. aF~:~i~ ~ ~,P awl - ~1 ^~-~+~o~4r ~, ,,.M.? .,~.~r.~.t
<br />While I am a lifelong Democrat, I ran for office on a campaign promise to serve in a non-
<br />partisan manner-=that. is, to provide the same quality and quantity of legal advice and
<br />guidance to City officials regardless of their or my political affiliation. So far so good,
<br />but what I failed to sufficiently appreciate is that we all operate here within a political
<br />environment-- all of my City clients are political animals, and, while a good Law
<br />Director can and should be non-partisan, he or she should never benon-political.
<br />~~
<br />As an avowed non-political Law Director, I failed to serve all of yo~as well as I should
<br />have. By being overly and- overtly non-political, I often times was insensitive to your
<br />needs as politicians, and I often times provided-you with legal advice that was either not
<br />as well communicated to you as it should have been, or which failed to take into account
<br />the politics of the issue. As a result, because I was not sufficiently~~~!k~~'~+~~i~~
<br />,~-attorney-client relationshia~, productive for either of us over these past
<br />eight years as ~ should have been. k~4~~ .w~
<br />.~ ~Y
<br />I als cknowledge nd recognize at I was not as good a manager of the City Law
<br />Department as s ould have been. Necessarily much of the legal work and guidance
<br />that comes out of the Law Department is provided by individuals other than the Law
<br />Director-by the City Prosecutor, the Assistant Law Directors, and/or outside counsel.
<br />Sometimes even from the Department Secretary or law clerks. While I certainly
<br />endeavored to be a good manager, I found that managing the very talented legal staff in
<br />my Department was much like the proverbial herding of cats. I never quite succeeded in
<br />~rx.~-
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