Interviews for a new city attorney will begin this morning during a special meeting of the Turlock City Council.
The council will open its meeting at 8 a.m. and then immediately move into closed session for an interview of at least one candidate.
According to city Human Resources Director Jessie Dhami, there are four candidates at this time, but more candidates could still materialize.
“This is an open recruitment until filled,” said Dhami, who could not provide names of the candidates or whether any of them have municipal experience.
Current City Attorney George Petrulakis announced in September that he would be stepping down — he’s staying on until his successor is found — to return to private practice as a land-use attorney. A native of Modesto and a 1981 graduate of Grace Davis High School, Petrulakis earned a bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard, then obtained his law degree at UCLA. The principal attorney at Petrulakis Law & Advocacy in Modesto, he was hired as the interim city attorney in February 2021, then took over on a permanent basis shortly thereafter.
The new city attorney will be paid between $20,039 and 24,357 per month — roughly $240,000 to $290,000 per year, and the city council will be the appointing authority.
The city has not had an in-house, city-employed attorney since March 2018, following the departure of Phaedra Norton. The city contracted with the firm of Churchwell White LLC in 2019, paying the firm $30,000 per month, whether or not the city used all the contracted hours for legal services, according to reports.
City Manager Sue Borrego said she’s confident the process has gone smoothly.
“I think we’re trying to be as efficient as possible and fill the job as quickly as possible so that we’re good stewards of the candidates’ time and council’s,” said Borrego. “My role has been working with staff to get the job description written and posted, and Director Dhami has done a really good job with that.”
All candidates will interview with the city council. The city attorney, like the city manager, reports directly to the council.
“I think I would’ve been surprised back then (2021) to find I was still doing the city attorney job years later,” Petrulakis told the Journal in September. “I don’t know if all the citizens of Turlock know this, but they have a terrific mayor and a terrific council, and I think it’s important that this council make a determination as to the long-term prospect for city attorney services.”
