Legal Corner: Q & A with ACAA President

The Arizona City Attorneys Association (ACAA) is an affiliate group of the League. The ACAA is comprised of attorneys, assistant attorneys and deputy attorneys for the 91 cities and towns in Arizona. The association meets regularly to discuss municipal legal issues of importance to cities and towns throughout Arizona.

This month, League General Counsel Christina Estes-Werther interviewed the Arizona City Attorney Association President and City of Prescott City Attorney John Paladini.

Please tell us a little about your background and where you were educated.

I was born and raised in Napa Valley, graduated from the University of Oregon with BS in Journalism/Public Relations. I received my JD from the University of Miami, Florida. I started practicing law at Snell & Wilmer in Phoenix in 1993 and joined the City of Sedona in 1996. As a member of the Arizona National Guard, I have had two combat deployments totaling 21 months since 2001.

What is your background and experience in municipal law?

I was the Assistant City Attorney in Sedona from 1996 until joining the City of Glendale as Chief Deputy City Attorney in 2001. Although I had a broad municipal practice as Sedona Assistant City Attorney, a large part of that work involved development, land use and zoning and development agreements as Sedona was seeing a burst of development in the late 1990s. I was also heavily involved in shaping the Growing Smarter legislation during that time. I had a brief stint in private practice between Sedona and Glendale where I focused on land use and zoning and municipal law. In Glendale, I was heavily involved in the major stadium, arena and sports facilities transactions, as well as large economic development deals. I was named the interim City Attorney in Glendale and held that position for over a year until I went on my first deployment. I have been at the City of Prescott for five years as the City Attorney. My private practice time has also focused on municipal law issues, land use and development and economic development deals.

Please tell us about your history and involvement with ACAA.

I have attended nearly every ACAA Summer Conference as a municipal attorney and have been a presenter on more than one occasion. I have been on the amicus committee for 3 years.

What do you hope to accomplish in your year as president of ACAA?

Given the huge election mandate I received to become ACAA President, my main goals are to achieve broader statewide involvement in ACAA activities. Many of the legal issues that rural communities deal with are unique from those experienced by Maricopa and Pima County municipalities. Getting input and involvement from the more rural cities and towns will give all of us a richer appreciation for municipal law issues. Most importantly, I want the ACAA Summer Conference to be the best ever. I want it to be good learning experience with some new speakers and different issues, I want it to be a great networking opportunity for municipal attorneys since we have a great resource of municipal law knowledge and an excellent collegiality and camaraderie that often times goes untapped, and I want to it be the most fun and most memorable conference we have seen. We are already well on our way to making all of this happen but need input from all of you to make it a reality.