City Attorney rated 3 out of 5 in 2017 evaluation; Council concerned about misinformation

Outgoing City Attorney Sylvia Borunda Firth received an overall rating of three out of five in a 2017 performance evaluation obtained by ABC-7.

The evaluation from December 21, 2016 to December 20, 2017 praised Borunda Firth for her management skills and abilities and for “hiring and retaining competent staff members,” but said she needed to stop “misinformation and under informing Council about organizational activities, progress and problems.”

Borunda Firth “provides legal interpretation, but also adds her personal opinion, which appears to be leading the recommendations to Council instead of the advice being factual and based on case law or legal opinions. It is hard to differentiate between her personal opinion and legal opinion,” the evaluation states, “The city attorney has been known to hold back information until asked or requested … she needs to trust Council and stop withholding information.”

Borunda Firth resigned at the end of April 2018. Monday, City Council approved a separation agreement with the former city attorney valued at nearly $274,000.

Regarding her relationship with City Council, Borunda Firth received a 2.2 rating when it came to “being proactive and innovating in recommending legal solutions that help guide Council.” The eight city representatives and the mayor also gave the city attorney an average score of 2.44 when it came to keeping “council informed of organizational activities, progress and problems.”

The lowest possible score in the evaluation is a one while the highest possible score is a five. Council and the mayor also gave the city attorney low scores in three categories dealing with communication and in several categories dealing with legal consultation.

Council and the mayor gave the city attorney an average score of 2.44 in a category listed in the form of a question: “Has legal advice provided by the cit attorney proven to be accurate and technically correct?”

The sum of all scores in Borunda Firth’s evaluation averaged out to a three.

In the evaluation, Council asked Borunda Firth to improve her collaboration and coordination with city representatives, city management and the public information office. “The city attorney is currently not very quick to update Council on legal proceedings and/or decisions in high profile cases. Many times, Council will receive the news from outside sources or the media,” the evaluation states.

In December 2016, Borunda Firth received a five percent pay raise based on “merit per contract due to performance,” a document provided by the City states. That pay raise increased her yearly salary to $243,880.

In March 2018, Borunda Firth received a two percent pay raise given to all City employees. It boosted her yearly salary to $248,758.