Gary B. Bell

Bell made shareholder at age 36, the youngest member to achieve that status at municipal law boutique Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley PC. He serves as city attorney for the City of Auburn, town attorney for the Town of Yountville and general or special counsel for special districts and other local governments in California.

"Because we provide essential services, we stayed open throughout the pandemic," he said. "We have a very socially-distanced office in Grass Valley. At home I have a three-year-old and a nine-month-old, so for me the office is a quiet spot."

Bell's interest in municipal law was sparked when he worked as a California Senate Fellow in Sacramento before law school. "Local governments are charged with delivering services and solving problems and regulating the community at the local level," he said. "At the state and federal levels it's policy writ large. Here, it's retail problem solving."

The Covid-19 crisis has impacted his clients significantly. "Internally there's been shutdowns and scaling back of services, partly for budgetary reasons and partly to comply with state and county health orders to protect the workforce," he said. "Outwardly the question has become how to educate the public and enforce health orders. Most local governments started by taking an educational approach, but now are moving toward administrative fines and other enforcement tools. Fortunately, the places I work, Napa County, Placerville and east into the foothills are more rural, less hard hit. Even so, now we're preparing for the downturn as tax collections will lag and cities and towns think about how to provide services more efficiently."

Among Bell's tasks was to serve as lead counsel in successfully defending a writ filed by a property owner to overturn a lien imposed by the City of Auburn to recover its costs for the nuisance abatement of prostitution activities at a massage establishment. The enforcement action followed the observation by police officers of a massage technician performing a sex act with a customer. The officers arrested the technician and the woman who operated the place on pimping and pandering charges. Z Brothers Investment LLC v. City of Auburn, SCV0042098 (Placer Co. Super. Ct., filed Nov. 9, 2018).

"The owner contended that he can't be held responsible for the deeds of his tenants, but that's just not the law," Bell said. "The case itself is typical--small and big cities deal with sort of thing all the time."

Bell said he settled the matter during the writ proceeding for the full amount the case cost the city plus attorney fees: $29,800. Then he drafted ordinances to further regulate local massage establishments and to provide new administrative enforcement means for future cases.

He laughed off a question about any political ambitions of his own. "No, I have no plans to run for anything," he said. "I truly enjoy just what I do."

-- John Roemer