Harper: Can't Tripple Dip\Council Opens Solicitation\ Resignation

Note: Harper served Tom Schwab. Under his "service" many of the city's legal problems got by his passive approach to his duties. What ever Schwab did was fine by Harper. Bad contracts, improper practices, and codes that were out of step with the US Constitution just to name a few of the "Things That Got By his Passive Approach" to his duties.

Harper Out As Grand Terrace City Attorney
Friday, April 29, 2011
San Bernardino County Sentinel

After serving two decades as Grand Terrace’s city attorney, John Harper’s tenure with the city will come to a close July 1.

Harper tendered his resignation Thursday, April 28, two days after the city council met in a closed session April 26 to discuss the city attorney’s contract and then directed staff to publish and circulate a request for proposals from interested and qualified attorneys and law firms to take on the assignment of Grand Terrace city attorney. Harper would not have been prohibited from responding to the request for proposals, but the solicitation of bids was widely seen as an indicator that the city council was looking to hire a new legal counsel.

The city council sought those bids just two weeks after it relieved Harper of the roles of redevelopment agency and bond counsel. For the duration of his time with the city, Harper held all three positions – city attorney, agency attorney and bond lawyer, a situation some consider to be a potential conflict of interest since he stood to be and was paid a percentage of the bond proceeds when the city issued bonds to fund the redevelopment agency or other municipal projects. In his capacity as city attorney and redevelopment attorney, Harper was in the position of advising the council on the legal advisability of taking a whole host of actions, including the issuance of bonds. This put him in the position of being able to recommend action or otherwise offer advice that would be of conceivable benefit to him financially.

Harper had competed with several other firms to remain as redevelopment and bond counsel and had tendered the lowest bid. Nevertheless, the city council elected to contract with the firm of Stradling Yocca Carlson & Roth to have it serve as redevelopment agency counsel.
City officials have previously indicated that they believed the rates charged by Harper’s firm, Harper and Burns, were reasonable.

Issues in Harper’s exodus were his close association with former city manager Tom Schwab, who was elevated to city manager in 1989, shortly after Harper was installed as city attorney, as well as his closeness to the assistant city manager who served under Schwab, Steve Berry. Since 2008, four-fifths of the city council’s members have been replaced. Current mayor Walt Stanckiewitz has been a vociferous critic of the management policies Schwab championed. Harper is widely perceived as having enabled Schwab in his approach to governance in Grand Terrace.

With the writing on the wall, Harper chose to make his exodus voluntarily. His leaving will come at the close of the current fiscal year.

An issue that had troubled city officials in recent weeks was staff’s inability to locate a copy of the city’s contract with Harper, specifying the terms of his services.

Efforts to reach Harper for comment prior to press time were unsuccessful.

Grand Terrace city attorney resigns
By Ryan Hagen Staff Writer
Posted: 04/28/2011 06:44:24 PM PDT

GRAND TERRACE - City Attorney John Harper, who has provided legal advice for the city since it incorporated and served as city attorney since 1988, resigned Thursday.

The resignation takes effect July 1.

The announcement follows two City Council votes that affected Harper's role, culminating with a decision Tuesday night to ask for proposals from other firms interested in offering a new city attorney.

"I've been here for a long time, and I love Grand Terrace and the residents," Harper said.

The City Council voted April 12 to select a new firm - Straddling, Yocca, Carlson & Rauth - to serve as bond counsel. Harper had performed that job, which includes advising the city's redevelopment agency about whether to issue bonds, while serving as counsel to the redevelopment agency and city attorney.

That switch inspired a broader search, said Councilman Bernardo Sandoval.

In his resignation letter, Harper offered to continue serving at his current rate of $145 per hour or a retainer of $5,000 per month until a replacement is found, but he thought it was in the city's best interests for him to leave.

"The purpose of this resignation is to avoid having the selection of the city attorney become an issue which will detract from the progress of a city which I love very much in meeting its current challenges," he wrote.

In the last few years, a series of irregularities have come to light in Grand Terrace.

But Harper, who is a partner at Harper & Burns and also serves as city attorney in Norco, said those issues were not his responsibility.

"The city attorney, particularly in a city like Grand Terrace, is more of a reactive position. When the issues are raised or questions are asked, the city attorney answers," he said.

Harper's career in Grand Terrace began as assistant city attorney in 1978, the year the city incorporated.

As many long-time city staff and elected officials left in the last two years, management philosophies have evolved, and it makes sense to find a new city attorney, said Mayor Walt Stanckiewitz.

"(Harper) has done a lot of good things for Grand Terrace, but a lot has changed," Stanckiewitz said. "The way we deal with things has changed, and I'm looking forward to going through the process and seeing what type of firm we can identify."

The city plans to send out a request for proposals May 10, said City Manager Betsy Adams.

ryan.hagen@inlandnewspapers.com, 909-386-3916