HomeMy WebLinkAboutR-2003-233 In-house City Attorney RESOLUTION NO. 2003-233
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF DANIA BEACH, FLORIDA,
APPOINTING THOMAS J. ANSBRO TO PROVIDE LEGAL SERVICES
AS CITY ATTORNEY; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS; FURTHER,
PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, the City of Dania Beach authorizes the City Commission to appoint
a city attorney who shall serve at the pleasure of the City Commission; and
WHEREAS, Thomas J. Ansbro has served in the capacity of the designated City
Attorney in connection with his employment by law firms (Brinkley, McNerney et al. and
subsequently, Weiss, Serota, et al.); and
WHEREAS, the City Commission desires that Thomas J. Ansbro continue to
serve as City Attorney for the provision of legal services for the City in an "in-house"
individual capacity;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE
CITY OF DANIA BEACH, FLORIDA.
Section 1. That Thomas J. Ansbro is hereby appointed by the Dania Beach City
Commission to serve as City Attorney at the will of and at the pleasure of the City
Commission. Mr. Ansbro shall be compensated for such services at the compensation
set forth in Exhibit A, a copy of which is attached to this Resolution and incorporated by
this reference.
Section 2. That all resolutions or parts of resolutions in conflict with this
resolution are repealed to the extent of such conflict.
RESOLUTION NO. 2003-233
Section 3. That this resolution shall be in force and take effect as of the first day
is
of the month following the date the City is able to make office accommodations
available for a fully functional City Attorney's office.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 14T" day of CTOB R, 2003.
BOB A TON
ATTEST: f MAYOR — COMMISSIONER
CAM A� ROLL CALL:
C ARLENE J HNSON COMMISSIONER CHUNN -
CITY CLERK COMMISSIONER MIKES -
COMMISSIONER FLURY - VAa
APPROVED AS TO FORM VICE-MAYOR MCELYEA -
AND CORRECT ESS: MAYOR ANTON - JCS
BY: lx
THOMAS'J'A S RO
CITY ATTORNEY
RESOLUTION NO. 2003-233
EXHIBIT "A"
Salary 122,000
Expense Account 6,000
Salary in lieu of Pension benefits 31,857
Total Compensation 159,857
Benefits Package
FICA Match 6,649
Insurance 14,13 8*
*Projected Insurance Premium for FY 2004
Total City Attorney Package $180,644
The foregoing compensation shall be subject to the same increases, including but not
limited to Cost of Living Adjustments ("COLA's"), as afforded the City Manager and
Department Heads.
In addition, Mr. Ansbro shall be entitled to receive benefits paid or made available by the
City of Dania Beach, to be paid or made available at the same rate and subject to the same
conditions that apply to Department Heads of the City (including, without limitation, insurance
coverages (City will reimburse COBRA premium to the City attorney until City's coverage takes
effect) sick, vacation and holiday leave and all other applicable benefits, which shall accrue at
the same rate as Department Heads accrue them and which shall be paid upon separation of
employment under the same circumstances and same rates as are payable to Department Heads.
THOMAS J. ANSBRO
® 3107 Stirling Rd., Suite 300
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33312
Telephone: (954) 763-4242
Facsimile: (954) 764-7770
QUALIFICATION SUMMARY:
Over twenty-nine years of local government and administrative law experience in three (3) City
Attorney's Offices in Broward County, Florida, a state University Attorney's Office and the
private sector including:
• Acting as the City Attorney for the City of Dania Beach, Deputy City Attorney and
Assistant City Attorney for Fort Lauderdale and Assistant City Attorney for the City of
Plantation
• Writing and defending municipal ordinances, including zoning regulations
• Presentations before and legal advisor to municipal administrative boards and the City
Commission of the Cities of Dania Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Plantation, Florida
® • Negotiation, preparation and review of numerous contracts, leases and documents
• Research and preparation of legal opinions and memoranda for use by all municipal
departments and by university officials
EDUCATION:
University of Florida Loyola University of Chicago
College of Law Chicago, Illinois
Gainesville, Florida Bachelor of Arts in June, 1969
Juris Doctorate in June, 1974 Major: English; Graduated with Honors
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Weiss, Serota,Ilelfman, Pastoriza, Guedes, Cole & Boniske, P.A. 2000-Present
Fort Lauderdale and Miami
As the designated City Attorney for the City of Dania Beach, I attend all City
Commission meetings as well as all meetings of the Planning and Zoning Board and the
Nuisance Abatement Board. I also attend the Charter Review Board meetings upon
request. I draft a variety of ordinances, resolutions, contracts, conduct legal research and
prepare legal opinions for use by the City Commission, the City Manager and the various
® City Departments.
Brinkley, McNerney, Morgan, Solomon & Tatum, LLP 1994-2000
Fort Lauderdale
In my capacity as City Attorney for the City of Dania Beach, Florida, between 1998-
2000, I drafted a variety of ordinances, legal opinions and legal memoranda for use by
the City Commission and the various City Departments. I attended all City Commission
meetings and Planning and Zoning Board meetings. In addition, I served as legal counsel
to the City of Plantation's Code Enforcement Board. From 1994-1998, 1 also acted as
Assistant City Attorney of Plantation. I also represented private sector clients in the
Broward County area before the various municipal and County governmental bodies.
Florida Atlantic University 1990-1996
Boca Raton, Florida
As Associate General Counsel, I advised University administrators, college deans and
staff on a variety of legal matters. 1 drafted and negotiated University contracts; defended
the University in litigation, prepared legal memoranda and issued legal opinions for
University staff.
Goldberg & Young, P.A. 1988-1990
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
I conducted commercial litigation and represented commercial and private sector clients
® before municipalities, counties and agencies in the Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm
Beach County areas.
Accomplishments:
o Obtained successful results in a variety of local governmental settings, including
zoning variances, conditional uses and building code compliance.
c Represented national companies in state and federal trial and appellate
proceedings.
City Attorney's Office 1976-1988
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Deputy City Attorney: 1986-1988
1 administered office operations for the City Attorney on a daily basis, acted as the legal
advisor to five (5) administrative boards and performed related litigation and appellate
work.
* From September, 1994 to September, 1996, I was employed by both Brinkley, McNerney, et al. and the
University,each on a part-time basis(20+house per week).I began full-time with the firm in September, 1996.
Accomplishments:
® • Successfullydefended the City in an eminent domain case in the United States
Y
Supreme Court.
• Wrote the City's "open Container Ordinance" (prohibition of alcoholic beverages)
applicable to the Fort Lauderdale beach area. The regulation was upheld as
constitutional.
o Wrote the Fort Lauderdale ordinance which prohibits operation of advertising
vehicles and watercraft within the city; successfully defended its constitutionality
in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, 1 Vh Circuit.
Assistant City Attorney: 1978-1985
I was the legal advisor to both the Planning and Zoning Board and Board of Adjustment
and I performed associated trial and appellate work for them. I also drafted municipal
documents, memoranda of law, numerous ordinances and other municipal documents.
In addition, I acted as a trial attorney for the city on a number of jury trial, non jury and
appellate proceedings, in both the state and Federal courts (including oral arguments in
the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal, Florida Supreme Court and the Eleventh
Circuit United States Court of Appeal in Atlanta).
Accomplishments:
• Wrote the Fort Lauderdale ordinance which regulated parking and storage of
commercial vehicles in residential neighborhoods.
• Created the ordinance and associated regulatory framework for the first municipal
Code Enforcement Board for the City of Fort Lauderdale.
City Prosecutor: 1976-1978
1 filed and prosecuted all municipal ordinance violations for the City of Fort Lauderdale
and aided in the 1977 transition of the Fort Lauderdale municipal court system into the
Broward County Court system.
Professional Affiliations:
Member: Admitted to Practice:
Florida Bar (admitted December, 1974) All Florida state courts
Broward County Bar Association U.S. District Court, Southern District
Broward County League of Cities U.S. 1 lth Circuit Court of Appeals
U.S. Supreme Court
CITY OF DANIA.BEACH
MEMORANDUM
TO: Ivan Pato, City Manager
CC: Patty Varney, Finance Director
FROM: Tom Ansbro, City Attorney
DATE: October 2, 2003
RE: In-House City Attorney Legal Services
This will confirm that the "In-House City Attorney Cost Analysis" prepared by the
Finance Director does reflect the elements of the proposal I submitted. I would like to emphasize
the following:
I) a copy of a summary of my experience and qualifications is attached, which reflects
my nearly thirty (30) years of legal experience in Florida local government and administrative
law;
2) I had suggested that an initial cost savings to the City may be available under the
federal "COBRA" law by simply continuing to use my current family coverage health insurance
provided by the Weiss, Serota firm, since it appears to be less costly (at least at this point and at
least until July, 2004 when the coverage and premium are likely to change). The Finance
Director has used an annualized"COBRA rate" of$12,500.00;
3) I had requested that the City Commission be advised that due to expected "Cost
Recovery" income, I anticipate at least a $12,000.00 per year savings can be applied to the City
Attorney salary and benefits' costs. As you know, "cost recovery" is established by a city
ordinance and it is used by Mr. Leeds' and Mr. Sheridan's Departments to offset certain costs
incurred by the City in reviewing and processing development applications, including legal
review costs. This projection is based on three(3) years of actual past"Cost Recovery" income I
generated, which was re-paid directly to the City by developers and other persons requesting
zoning and "public works/utilities" types of relief, approvals or the like. I also believe that there
is a substantial likelihood that such recoverable costs will increase, and therefore further reduce
the City's actual costs for in-house legal services, simply because I expect to be called upon
more frequently to address issues associated with cost recovery applications.
® 566.028
TJA:siw
Attachment
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