City Attorney Steven Flower was replaced by Interim City Attorney Craig Steele at the Monday, May 11, City Council meeting. Seal Beach Senior Attorney Quinn Barrow said that some people had relocated to the San Francisco office of the law firm of Richards, Watson & Gershon. He said it was necessary to move some people around. For now, he said, Craig Steele is the Seal Beach city attorney.
In related news, the city attorney is preparing the paperwork to challenge the I-405 expansion project’s environmental impact report.
According to Steele, the council in closed session voted 4-0 Monday to have his law firm prepare a lawsuit challenging the environmental impact report for the Caltrans I-405 expansion. He said that District Three Councilman Mike Varipapa did not vote because he is a Caltrans employee. Senior Attorney Barrow confirmed that preparation of the paperwork didn’t necessarily mean litigation.
The decision to prepare a lawsuit came two weeks after 15 residents of College Park East asked the council to challenge the final draft of the environmental impact report for the project. They oppose possible relocation of the soundwall.
(Editor’s note: This article has been edited to correct an error that appeared in the Thursday, May 14, print edition of the Sun.)
