• In three years post-scandal as City Attorney of Bell, supervised 60 litigation/hearing matters recovering $7M in insurance and malpractice actions against former city attorney firm, auditor and insurers; negotiated settlement of $38M claim by Dexia of bond default with no payment by City and sale of property netting City $15M; negotiating settlement of $5.6M foreclosure action to allow City to keep the property for $2M with payment from State funds; defeated claims of Bell 8 for over $10M of indemnification; and obtained judicial approval that Supplemental Pension fund was illegally created, allowing City to escape $3M unfunded liability and recover $4.6M in the account.
• Creating Carson Reclamation Authority for $100 million cleanup and negotiating a development and financing agreement for an $800 million dollar entertainment and mixed use project with Lennar on a 157-acre site on a former landfill (including a $100 million dollar site remediation program), and subsequently negotiating to build an NFL Stadium with the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders.
• Creation of the Signal Hill Auto Center now approaching 50 acres with some 15 brands, and generating over $3 Million in annual sales taxes to the City.
• Overcoming numerous issues in transforming the historic 1 billion barrel Signal Hill oil field, in continuous production for 75 years, with complex contamination issues, into a beautiful community with a vibrant local economy.
• Advising the Banning Public Utility and dealing with all its water issues, with a community with extraction rights from five groundwater storage basins, negotiating an acquisition of water rights from a mutual water district owning a 100-year old flume, and overseeing the development of water lines, reservoirs and recycling facilities, and processing a transfer of facilities from Southern California Edison through FERC.
• Overseeing a long term program for Irwindale to require reclamation of multiple 100+ acre mining pits with depths of over 300 feet, and achieving development agreements providing for reclamation, payment of the highest mining taxes in the state, and infrastructure development.
• Negotiating major development agreements for 1000+ acre projects for hotel, golf course, and residential development including with Pardee for development of a 5400 unit, 1600 acre project with a golf course and water features, parks, community center, satellite treatment plant and commercial center; and dealing with related sensitive environmental and endangered species issues.
• Negotiating many innovative, award-winning affordable housing projects including in Signal Hill alone: A $9 Million, 40-unit, affordable moderate income single family detached project; a $20 Million, 72-unit extremely-, very low-, low-income housing project, and a $20 Million, 92-unit, low- and very low-income family project, including a park, child care center and police substation. (This last project, Las Brisas, won the League of California Cities' prestigious Helen Putman award in 2006).
• Development of the Signal Hill Town Center including big box users such as Costco and Home Depot, but also encompassing the community's only market, Food-4-Less.
• Developing a Palm Springs power center with Lowes, Home Depot, and WalMart, located partially on a former municipal landfill site, and successfully defending the project from environmental challenges.
• Developing an Indian Gaming Casino in Palm Springs including negotiating a DDA with a tribal government and successfully defending a lawsuit by the California Attorney General.
• Reclamation of a 126-acre Irwindale mining pit and developing a 2.5 million square foot mixed use project through a development agreement with Trammel Crow (winner of a Gold Nugget Award).
• Developing major public projects including expanding the Palm Springs Convention Center twice, a championship 36-hole golf course, sewer wastewater plant expansions, parking structures, several city halls and police stations, and numerous water reservoir and other water improvements.
• Master planning the Palm Springs Airport and undertaking numerous runway and terminal expansions including developing innovative passenger facility charge financing, obtaining FAA grants and approvals, and overcoming a GSA audit of airport properties demanding tens of millions from the City General Fund.
• Negotiating lease agreements to privatize Palm Springs' wastewater treatment plant with US Filter, a Fortune 500 company.
• Developed an economic development ordinances to maximize cities' authority to pursue economic development projects in California's post-redevelopment world.
• Developing an innovative franchise program for the Town of Mammoth Lakes to facilitate underground delivery of gas to customers and requiring the franchisee to provide pipeline capacity to other suppliers.
