City Attorney, Michael E. Gates

Mission

To provide the best representation to the City in all legal matters and before administrative bodies, and to provide excellent, effective legal counsel and services to the City Council and to all officers of the City, and provide superior representation for the City in court litigation and prosecutions on behalf of the people, violations of the City Charter and Municipal Code.

City Attorney

Submit Question

Responsibilities

The Office of the City Attorney represents and advises the City Council and all City officials in matters of law pertaining to the business of the City of Huntington Beach. Among other things, the City Attorney prepares and/or reviews all City ordinances, resolutions, contracts and other legal documents; attends City Council, Planning Commission, City Staff and other meetings. The City Attorney also prosecutes on behalf of the people criminal cases arising from violation of the provisions of the City Charter or Huntington Beach Municipal Code, and such state misdemeanors as the City has the power to prosecute. This office also administers the Administrative Citation Program, see Frequently Asked Questions.

Personnel

The City Attorney’s Office consists of an elected City Attorney, a Chief Assistant City Attorney, two Assistant City Attorneys, two Sr. Deputy City Attorneys, a Deputy City Attorney, and four support staff. The City Attorney’s Office has two divisions: Litigation Services and Municipal Services.

Mike Vigliotta

Practice Areas, Background and Experience
Mr. Vigliotta presently serves as the Chief Assistant City Attorney for the City of Huntington Beach. He directly assists the City Attorney in supervising and overseeing the operations of the City Attorney’s office. In the absence of the City Attorney, Mr. Vigliotta assumes all of the responsibilities of the City Attorney, including advising City Council and City Administration. He is charged with overseeing legal matters for Planning and Building, City Clerk's Office, Community Services, Finance, Public Works and Library departments.

Prior to becoming Chief Assistant, Mr. Vigliotta’s near fifteen year practice has focused exclusively on municipal law . His most recent positions included counsel to the Huntington Beach Planning Commission and Planning and Building Department, in which he advised on various land use and environmental legal issues, and prepared necessary legislation, among other tasks. Prior to serving as counsel to the Planning Commission and Department, Mr. Vigliotta’s practice included the area of labor and employment law, where he advised all city departments on issues relating to employee discipline, discrimination, harassment, wages and hours, family and medical leave, disability, and labor law. He also participated in the negotiation of memorandums of understanding with employee unions, as well as the drafting of employee contracts and providing training to city management and staff on various employment related issues.

Prior to joining the City Attorney's office in 2005, Mr. Vigliotta was employed by the City of Santa Ana a Deputy City Attorney. In Santa Ana, Mr. Vigliotta provided general counsel to various city departments on such issues as utility user and hotel visitor tax and fees, election matters, open meeting laws, conflict of interest and ethics regulations. In addition, Mr. Vigliotta prosecuted code enforcement matters and provided litigation support regarding law and motion for specialized litigation matters.

Professional Affiliations
Mr. Vigliotta is admitted to practice law in California and before the United States District Court for the Central District of California, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal.

Education
Mr. Vigliotta is a graduate of the Chapman University School of Law (J.D.), and Gannon University (B.A., Political Science).