City attorney’s office fully staffed
By Sophia Fischer
sfischer@theacorn.com

The Thousand Oaks City Attorney’s office is finally fully staffed with permanent lawyers.

Patrick Hehir is the last of three new attorneys hired over the past four months to fill positions vacated last year when three lawyers left the city between January and August.

City Attorney Amy Albano was brought on in December, followed by Assistant City Attorney Tracy Noonan in March. Deputy City Attorney Hehir is the latest hire. Assistant City Attorney Tim Giles is the only veteran, having been with the city since 1998.

The city had spent thousands of dollars on interim attorneys to fill in the gaps until permanent attorneys could be hired. Councilmembers Ed Masry and Dennis Gillette hired Albano, and she in turn hired Noonan and Hehir.

Hehir grew up in San Jose and earned a degree in government at Cal State Sacramento. He is a graduate of Santa Clara University School of Law and now lives in West Hills.

Hehir has held the position of staff counsel for the California Department of Industrial Relations in Los Angeles, where he represented the state’s interests in various labor issues and acted as a hearing officer for labor disputes. He’s also worked for the Los Angeles Attorney General’s office in the Department of Justice, representing state employees in a variety of issues involving civil rights.

Working with the city of Thousand Oaks was an attractive prospect for Hehir because of the diversity of issues the attorney’s office handles.

"It’s very fast-paced type of work at times," Hehir said. "I’ve only been here a short time and it’s already hopping."

Albano, who hired Hehir, has divvied up the various city departments among the four attorneys so that relationships can begin to be forged between staff and the lawyers.

"I’m thrilled to have Patrick join us," Albano said. "We’re all new so we’re spending a lot of time learning, but everyone has made me and everyone else welcome."