Benjamin R. picture

Benjamin R. Jones

Partner

Orange County

t: (949) 223-1170

d: (949) 250-5430

e: bjones@awattorneys.com

VCard

Bio

Ben is dedicated to public service and has spent nearly his entire legal career representing cities and other local public agencies. Ben is a partner in the Irvine office and currently serves as Assistant City Attorney for the City of Carson and the City of Perris as well as Deputy City Attorney for the City of Rancho Palos Verdes. As Assistant City Attorney for Carson, he acts as primary counsel to the City’s Planning Commission and Mobile Home Rent Review Board, as well as supporting the City Attorney in advising the City Council. He advises city clients on a wide variety of public law topics including open government (including the Brown Act, Public Records Act, and Political Reform Act), land use & zoning, environmental law/CEQA, contracts & procurement, community services, municipal fees & taxation, cannabis regulation, and telecommunications regulation.  He is also knowledgeable and experienced in municipal code enforcement, contract disputes, public works, labor & employment, elections, housing, and mobile home park laws. Ben is the Chair of A&W's Cannabis Law Practice Group, and is a member of the Community Services Policy Committee of the League of California Cities (2023-2025). Prior to joining A&W in 2017, Ben worked at another municipal law firm for almost three years, where he served as Deputy City Attorney for the cities of Rancho Mirage, Desert Hot Springs and Moreno Valley.

• Crafted proposed regulations to address issues related to protection of public health & safety and the environment arising from industrial warehousing and logistics facilities and other heavy truck-related uses;

• Developed and implemented city land use regulations and enforcement mechanisms protecting residents against industrial storage and use of hazardous materials;

• Pursued code enforcement action resulting in cessation of unpermitted hazardous land uses;

• Helped prepare AB 2782, state legislation that established greater protections for mobile home residents in California by broadening cities’ local powers to impose critical conditions on mobilehome park closures to avoid unmitigated displacement of vulnerable residents;

• Helped establish local programs for preservation of mobilehome home parks, negotiate maximum relocation for residents impacted by mobilehome park closures, and establish a program of relocation assistance aid and resources to displaced residents of a mobilehome park ordered closed by court order;

• Developed a city ordinance banning flavored tobacco products and vaping devices in light of a rise in vaping sites close to the City’s schools and parks;

• Helped establish and implement municipal COVID-19 relief measures, including a program of free grocery and meal deliveries to seniors, a mobile home space rent increase moratorium, and price-gouging restrictions;

• Helped procure and establish contracts and grants for new and improved public transportation system services and other community services programs and activities;

• Helped cities establish programs for regulation and taxation of commercial cannabis uses and activities;

• Negotiated wireless telecommunication facility license agreements and crafted regulations for wireless telecommunication facility sites.

• Assistant City Attorney, Carson

• Assistant City Attorney, Perris

• Deputy City Attorney, Rancho Palos Verdes

• Deputy City Attorney, Rancho Mirage

• Deputy City Attorney, Desert Hot Springs

• Interim Deputy City Attorney, Moreno Valley

  • State Bar of California

  • US District Court, Central District of California

  • Western City Magazine Article "A 2024 legal decision will impact local control over existing wireless facilities" Read

  • Daily Journal "The constitutional significance of charter cities' Senate Bill 9 win" Read

 

  • League of California Cities Community Services Policy Committee Member, 2023
  • Aleshire & Wynder Cannabis Law Practice Group Chair
  • Aleshire & Wynder Recruitment Committee Member

• Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, CA, JD, 2013

• Emory University, Atlanta, GA, BA, 2009