City attorney Randy Riddle will step down
on October 5, 2011
Richmond City Attorney Randy Riddle — who became the city’s attorney after a protracted search that ended in 2007 — will be leaving his position early next year. The city has hired an executive search firm to find a replacement.
“Randy has been a great city attorney,” Richmond City Manager Bill Lindsay said on Tuesday. “He brought a lot of stability and professionalism into the City Attorney’s Office and has made that office very supportive of the City Council.”
Riddle has “been great to work with at the department level, and the city’s going to really miss his leadership,” Lindsay said.
Riddle is leaving his position to return to full-time work with his law firm, Renne Sloan Holtzman Sakai in San Francisco. The city’s contract for attorney services is, technically, with that firm.
“I’ve been in Richmond almost five years now, and I love Richmond and think the world of the people who I work with there,” Riddle said. “But I’m also a partner in a law firm in San Francisco, and our contract expires at the end of this year, and I think this is the right time for me to go back and be a meaningful part of our law firm again. I’ve essentially been missing in action for the past several years.”
Lindsay said the City Council has contracted with executive search and consulting firm Peckham & McKenney of Sacramento to find a replacement for Riddle. Lindsay said the city will likely hire a full-time city employee this time around.
“The city council never really intended to do a contract city attorney, but that law firm [Renne Sloan Holtzman Sakai] stepped in as an interim, and they really liked that law firm and Randy in particular,” Lindsay said.
Riddle helped the city navigate through several difficult legal situations, including matters involving the Chevron hydrogen renewal project and the proposed Point Molate Casino.
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I’ve had the opportunity to work with Randy on numerous occasions and have appreciated the friendliness and professionalism of our interactions—even when we were on opposite sides of the issues.
Randy always knew that even when people are on opposite sides of an issue, it doesn’t have to become personal and become nuclear.
I wish him well as he moves on.