City Attorney

Job Summary

The City Attorney serves as the chief legal advisor to the City, and is responsible for providing legal services to the City Council, the City Manager, all departments, and City boards and commissions. Responsibilities include planning, and supervising the legal service needs of the City. The City Attorney is appointed by the City Council and receives general direction and oversight from the City Manager who reviews work through conferences and results achieved.

Pay Range: $120,000 to $150,000 per year  

Duties and Responsibilities

• Advises the Mayor, City Council, City Manager, and Departments regarding legal matters affecting the City.
• Attends various board, commission, and City Council meetings to advise on legal problems and questions.
• Answers communications from the public relative to legal matters affecting the City.
• Communicates with taxpayers concerning municipal codes and ordinances.
• Provides legal guidance during crises or emergencies, such as natural disasters, public health crises, or significant public safety incidents.
• Works effectively with legal specialists engaged by the City for the preparation and trial of unusually complex and important cases in which the City may be involved.
• Prepares legal opinions, court paper, contracts, ordinances, resolutions, deeds, leases, and other legal documents with clearly organized thoughts using proper sentence construction, punctuation, and grammar.
• Assists in drafting proposed legislation for enactment by the State legislature on matters of interest to the City.
• Instructs executive team in legal matters.
• Works with the City Manager and appropriate staff to manage the legal aspects of public relations, particularly in dealing with media inquiries and public statements on legal matters.
• Organizes, interprets, and applies legal principles and knowledge to complex legal problems.
• Closely collaborates with all City departments to ensure that legal considerations are integrated into all major city projects and initiatives.
• Works to develop and implement alternative dispute resolution processes, such as mediation or arbitration, when appropriate, as a means of resolving conflicts involving the City.
• Works with the City Manager, Human Resources, and Department staff to develop and execute best practice personnel action processes. Provides advice to City staff on personnel issues, when requested.
• Comprehends and makes inferences from written material to provide legal representation and advice.
• Other duties and responsibilities as required.

Supervisor Duties

This position is directly responsible for the Assistant City Attorney, the Court Administrator, the Deputy Court Clerk, and any other position assigned to the Fountain Municipal Court Department. In this capacity, this position will be responsible for the direction, welfare, discipline, development, hiring, and separations of all subordinate positions assigned to this position. Additionally, this position is responsible for the budget, expenditures, and resource management associated with this position.

Work Environment

While the majority of this position’s duties are performed indoors, the incumbent may be asked to spend time in an out-of-door environment, in other premises, and in the vehicle commuting to another City or worksite locations. Job may also require work during early morning, late evening, weekends, or holidays.

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderately quiet.

Qualifications

• Juris Doctorate Degree from a school of law accredited by the American Bar Association is REQUIRED
• Licensed to practice law in the State of Colorado is REQUIRED
• Five (5) years of experience in the practice of law is REQUIRED
• Current, Valid Colorado Driver’s License REQUIRED
• Three (3) years representing a public entity is preferred
• Municipal law experience is preferred
• Experience supervising a professional staff is preferred
• Active Membership in the Colorado State Bar Association is a bonus

Required Capabilities

• Knowledge of federal and state laws affecting city governments.
• Knowledge of city ordinances, particularly those relating to the authority of functions of City departments.
• Knowledge of the established precedents and sources of legal reference applicable to City activities.
• Knowledge of legal principles and practices.
• Ability to communicate effectively in orally and in written form.
• Ability to attend legislative sessions, in order represents and promotes the interest of the City before committees and representatives.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with subordinates, other City employees, other public officials and the general public.
• Ability to exercise sound judgement in evaluating situations and in making decisions.
• Thorough knowledge of the rules, regulations, policies, and operating procedures for the City of Fountain and the City Manager's Office; City of Fountain organizational structure, goals and objectives; modern practices and procedures for public administration and governmental budgeting; federal, state, and local laws and codes impacting the city management functions; principles and practices of program development and administration; principles and practices of supervision including training and performance evaluation.
• Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral or diagram form. Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.
• To perform the essential job functions and to ensure the safety of themselves, their coworkers, and the public, employees must have the ability to regulate attention; to plan; to understand, remember, and apply information; to effectively interact with others; to concentrate and maintain pace; and to adapt or regulate one’s behavior.
• Ability to proficiently read, speak, and understand English. Proficiency in non-English languages is highly valued.
• Ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide in all units of measure using whole numbers, common fractions and decimals. Ability to compute rate, ratio and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.
• Demonstrated strong verbal and written communication skills, analytical skills, statistical and mathematical abilities and interpersonal skills. Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating maintenance instructions and procedure manuals. Ability to write complex reports and distill information for many audiences.
• This position requires close, distance and peripheral vision.
• Ability to hear an average conversational voice in a quiet room, using one or both ears, at a distance of six (6) feet. Ability to hear sounds and signals indicating work and safety necessities.
• This position requires standing, walking and sitting for periods of time. Utilization of hands and fingers to operate office computer keyboard and equipment required. Must be able to reach with hands and arms, and stoop, kneel or crouch if needed.
• Must be able to lift up to twenty-five (25) pounds as needed and frequently lift up to ten (10) pounds.  
• This position requires effective proficiency in the use of computer software and applications, office equipment, and professional telephone use. The ability to adequately type quickly with few to no errors is also very important. This position will often require multi-tasking in the use of computer, phone, and office equipment while interacting with clients. Candidates for this position may be required to take and pass technology proficiency assessments prior to employment.

*This job is open from 08/28/2024 and will close on 12/30/2024 at 12:00 p.m. MT. or until filled.*