With the resignation of City Attorney Teresa Stricker, contract Assistant City Attorney Heather McLaughlin is quickly becoming the public face of the Richmond City Attorney’s Office. Mc Laughlin (not to be confused with City Council member Gayle McLaughlin) is the author of the proposed resolution on tonight’s agenda, “Resolution of The Council of The City Of Richmond, California, Condemning Certain Internet Postings By Mayor Tom Butt.”

It turns out that McLaughlin has a history of challenging the 1st Amendment rights of elected mayors. In 2014, McLaughlin was the city attorney for Benicia when she challenged Mayor Elizabeth Patterson’s right to vote on Valero’s Crude-by-Rail Project. McLaughlin hired a southern California lawyer to make a case that Patterson was biased and should recuse herself (“Outside legal counsel: Elizabeth Patterson should take certain steps before voting on Valero Crude-by-Rail Project; mayor reiterates she will not recuse.” Mayor Patterson responded, ““The city attorney asserts I have a conflict of interest,” Patterson said. She said her conflict is “the health, safety and welfare” of Benicians. “On that, I will not yield.”

Figure 1 - Former Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson

Benicia City Attorney Heather McLaughlin was eventually forced out by the Benicia City Council in 2018 when they decided to look elsewhere for city attorney services (City attorney to leave in March).

At the Sept. 4 City Council meeting, the councilmembers voted 4-0— Mayor Elizabeth Patterson was absent— to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) to solicit proposals from law firms to provide city attorney services. Over the years, the services have been provided by either employees or law firms. McLaughlin said there are pros and cons to utilizing law firms for city attorney services.

I asked Mayor Patterson how McLaughlin’s effort to keep her from voting turned out, and she responded, “She [McLaughlin] hired a southern California attorney to seek to silence my e-Alerts and prevent me from voting on crude by rail. I … got a new city attorney.”

Having honed her 1st Amendment challenging skills in Benicia, McLaughlin is now taking on the mayor of Richmond, perhaps hoping for a more successful outcome.

The people of Richmond should be concerned that the City Attorney’s Office is trying to shut down criticism by City Council members and is continuing to conceal vital City business by cloaking it with labels of confidentiality and closed session actions that don’t comply with California’s sunshine law, the Brown Act.