City Attorney Gives Notice

Alfred “Mick" Cabral, who served as Hercules' city attorney for over a decade, announced his resignation during a closed session with the City Council Tuesday night.

The city’s Legal Services Agreement with Cabral allows termination after 30 days' written notice, but the city attorney plans to stay on until the end of June so that the “(c)ity has adequate time to undertake a thorough recruitment of my replacement,” Cabral said in a letter to the council, dated April 6. “Of course, I will do anything needed to assist the city with this transition,” the letter said.

Cabral is contracted with the city for $6,000 monthly—at no more than 40 hours per month—for basic services, which includes attending meetings, reviewing agendas and basic contracts and giving routine legal advice. In addition to the basic services fee, the city attorney receives a $210 hourly rate for litigation, special projects and other basic services work exceeding 40 hours per month, a 2006-2007 city contract (the most recent available) shows.

Cabral, who served as legal counsel to controversial city managers Mike Sakamoto and Nelson Oliva, has been by residents and council members for his involvement in many of the decisions leading to the city’s current , which has prompted a 40 percent drop in and  in the coming fiscal year.

“He had signed off (on) all the development agreements…,” said Vice Mayor Myrna deVera, who, at the start of her term last December, asked for an employee review of Cabral. “We should have done this (review) in our first (meeting), but we needed some institutional memory to help us along as a new council,” deVera said.

The council did not say how it planed to recruit the new city attorney or if it would hire an executive search firm like Avery Associates, which is currently recruiting for Hercules’ permanent city manager. The council did say it plans to form a citizens' advisory committee to help select Cabral’s replacement. Now, more than ever, residents “need to have trust in the major players (at City Hall),” deVera said.