Merced now looking for city attorney

The Merced city attorney job is now posted and will remain up through Jan. 8, according to the firm searching for the next lawyer.

City leaders are expected to focus on filling the soon-to-be-empty position after they name a new city manager, an announcement that could come as soon as this week.

City Manager John Bramble is in his final days as Merced’s full-time top administrator, though he said he expects to come back to the city in an interim role. City Attorney Randolph Hom’s last day is Dec. 20, before he moves to a similar position in Cupertino.

Hom will have worked for the city of Merced for less than a year. Mayor Stan Thurston said the city has few avenues aside from a gut feeling to guarantee that the next person to be hired stays put.

The city offered a $10,000 incentive to Hom if he moved here, Thurston noted. Since that carrot didn’t work, leaders have floated ideas for the stick.

Thurston said punitive incentives would likely scare off many applicants and are mostly illegal. “Every time we talk about that, it violates state or federal (employment) law,” he said.

A brochure for the position, which is being recruited by Bob Murray & Associates, touts the city’s attributes and the benefits that come along with the city attorney job.

The brochure says the salary of the new city attorney will be based on his or her qualifications. Hom makes $180,000, according to his contract.

The city attorney’s office has a budget of $1.8 million, and includes two other attorneys, a legal secretary and a paralegal.

Hom was hired in February but announced his plans to leave in October. Under Hom’s contract in Cupertino, he’ll make $214,200.

City leaders have said Hom played a key role in recently completed negotiations with UC Merced, as well as the city’s transition to districts for local elections.

“It is my sincere hope that these milestones not only mark Merced’s path as it moves forward into the 21st century, but foreshadow the promise of all of the good things that will come to pass in this community,” Hom said in a statement in November.

The job listing will be in several publications, including the League of California Cities’ magazine, Western City, according to city staff.

Negotiations and background checks for the next city manager are ongoing, city staff said. Mike Conway, the Merced city spokesman, said it is likely the next city manager’s name will be made public this week when the agenda is published for the council’s meeting on Monday.

This story was originally published November 30, 2015 at 5:48 PM with the headline "Merced now looking for city attorney."