Santa Clara’s new City Attorney Glen Googins will be able to hit the ground running with extensive experience in municipal real estate transactions, entertainment venues and public-private partnerships. Googins’ appointment was announced on the agenda for the Jan. 10 Santa Clara City Council meeting. He was termed out last year as the elected city attorney in Chula Vista after 12 years in the job.
Googins’ compensation includes an annual salary of $345,000, which is at the sole discretion of the Santa Clara City Council. He will also receive benefits provided in City’s Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with bargaining Unit 9. This is the same compensation package dismissed City Attorney Brian Doyle received. Googins will also receive $15,000 in moving expenses and is required to live within a “reasonable commute” of city hall.
The new City Attorney’s contract has a maximum of nine months compensation if he’s dismissed, with less if he’s dismissed within a year of his hiring. Unlike the contract with Doyle, there is no clause protecting him from dismissal for 90 days after a new city council is seated.
Before being elected as Chula Vista’s city attorney, Googins was lead counsel on many of Chula Vista’s major real estate business and franchise transactions. He worked on the development of the North Island Credit Union amphitheater and served as the principal attorney for Chula Vista’s redevelopment and housing agencies.
As city attorney, Googins guided the Chula Vista’s acquisition and operation of the 155-acre former U.S. Olympic Training Center, a transition to City-provided ALS First Responder and Ambulance Transport Services and a public-private partnership for the coming development of a 1,600-room Gaylord Resort Hotel and Convention Center on the Chula Vista Bayfront.
Googins graduated from Dartmouth in 1985 with a B.A. in political science and government and received his law degree from Berkeley Law School (Boalt Hall) in 1988. In 1992, he was hired as Chula Vista’s deputy city attorney and elected to the office of City Attorney in 2010.
An engaged community member, Googins is active in the Chula Vista Rotary Club and the Chula Vista Charitable Foundation. He has served on the boards of many local nonprofits. He has also served as President of the City Attorneys Association of San Diego County.
Originally from Connecticut, Googins has lived in the San Diego area for almost four decades with his wife and four children.
The City of Chula Vista has a population, square miles, police and fire force about 2.5(x) that of the City of Santa Clara. It appears Mr. Googins not only was served Chula Vista free of political mistrust, he also lead all city departments in complying with state laws regarding transparency.
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• Chula Vista transparency https://www.chulavistaca.gov/departments/police-department/senate-bill-1421
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The City of Chula Vista has always had an appointed police chief which likely helped the city avoid political shenanigans from the rank and file. Hopefully there will be no objection to the Santa Clara City Council putting an amendment on calendar to eliminate politics from policing.