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The announcement below is from the City’s website. This is a significant loss for the City — from what I’ve seen Ms. Borten has done an admirable job — and I hope they can find someone new soon. The City Attorney sits in public meetings with the Council and with the Planning Commission to provide immediate advice on procedural and legal issues, and generally helps to keep them out of trouble. I expect they will have to act quickly to retain someone to serve in that role; perhaps they will bring back Stanley Abrams in the interim. With the anti-solicitation ordinance up in the air for another several weeks — the Council has deferred the effective date yet again while waiting for the Attorney General’s opinion on its constitutionality — and the ACLU fighting the City on this issue, they will need some good representation sooner rather than later. I also did some checking up on a couple of other issues that I knew that the City had been caught up in.

One of these issues is the Hair Bar case, wherein Mr. Hamza Halici (and Halici, Inc.) is suing the Historic District Commission over the denial of his application for a demolition permit for the historic Talbott House, currently used as the Hair Bar. Back in June, Judge Robert A. Greenberg found in favor of the City, rejecting the argument that the HDC was improperly formed and letting stand the decision rejecting the demolition permit. In July, Mr. Halici filed an appeal, and, according to court records, on Tuesday of this week (8/21), Judge James R. Eyler ordered that the appeal proceed without a prehearing conference. Thus, the next City Attorney will likely have some work to do here.

The second issue that I know about is the case of Mora v. City of Gaithersburg. In this Civil Rights case, Anthony Mora sued the City for what he believed was unlawful search and seizure. According to the District Court opinion, the police were responding to a call from a counseling hotline, informing them that Mr. Mora had “indicated that he was suicidal and had weapons in his apartment”. After arriving at the scene and finding Mora “loading luggage into a van in the parking lot of the apartment complex”, the police “found and seized 41 firearms, as well as firearms parts, ammunition, ammunition magazines, firearms, books, a spotting scope, and a pair of binoculars.” There ensued a long dispute over the return of the firearms, which you can read about in the District Court opinion. Generally, the District Court found in favor of the City.

Mr. Mora has appealed (Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals case 06-2158), and, as far as I can tell from what is available in Pacer, the court has yet to issue an opinion; the most recent activity appears to have been oral arguments on May 23 of this year.

I expect that there many other issues that the City Attorney is in the middle of, but I think these few things, together with those mentioned in the announcement, give an idea of the importance of this position. Anyway, here’s the City’s announcement:

City Attorney Borten Announces Resignation
Posted 8/23/2007

City Attorney Cathy Borten, who joined the City of Gaithersburg as its first in-house attorney in 2004, announced her resignation, effective September 21, 2007. She is leaving to pursue another professional opportunity. The City Attorney is appointed by the Mayor and City Council.

“Ms. Borten has been a true asset to the City,” said Mayor Sidney Katz. “Over the past three years she has provided much-needed guidance as we navigated through some very complicated issues. Her services will be missed, and we wish her well in all future endeavors.”

Among the issues that Borten has dealt with in her tenure with the City are the smoking ban, the potential day laborer center, a modification to the anti-solicitation ordinance, and a host of large-scale development issues including Casey East and West, the Monument Office Park, and the Crown Farm (now Aventiene) annexation and development.

In the coming weeks the Mayor and City Council will be discussing the procedure for finding Borten’s replacement. For more information please contact the City Manager’s office at 301-258-6310.

Congratulations to some of Gaithersburg’s finest.

From the City’s website (and note that the City’s copy of this announcement has photographs):

Business Community Honors City Police
for Distinguished Service, Meritorious Conduct
Posted 8/22/2007

At its Public Safety Awards program at the Montgomery County Agricultural Center on Friday, August 10 the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce recognized several members of the Gaithersburg Police Department for distinguished service and meritorious conduct. This annual awards program provides the business community with an opportunity to publicly thank those who help maintain the quality of life in the Gaithersburg and Germantown area.

A Meritorious Conduct Award was presented to Community Outreach Specialist Elena Ingram, who was singled out for her efforts in such areas as the Citizen’s Police Academy, the Chief’s Advisory Council, various Neighborhood Watch programs, and for her work in enhancing the department’s crime analysis function.

A Distinguished Service Citation was presented to Corporal Dwight Lumsden and Officer Matthew Bellard of the Gaithersburg Police Department, along with Officer Peter Camp of Montgomery County Police’s Sixth District, for their collective efforts to subdue an intoxicated and extremely aggressive suspect. They were recognized for acting with restraint, good judgment and clear thinking to resolve a potentially deadly situation.

Officer Joseph Marion also received a Distinguished Service Citation, recognizing the large number of quality felony arrests that he has made in the past year. The award noted that his success was a result of his aggressive patrol tactics, his awareness of lookout information, and his willingness to look beyond the obvious.

A Distinguished Service Award was given to Sergeant Randy Rude for the arrest of an armed robbery suspect. Sergeant Rude conducted the arrest completely alone and attempted to do so with minimum force before being forced to use his firearm. The suspect, a career criminal, is now serving a significant prison sentence.

"I am thankful to the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce for hosting this event and recognizing some of the outstanding work that is done on a daily basis by the men and women of the Gaithersburg Police Department," said Gaithersburg Chief of Police John King. "Additionally these incidents highlight the strong public safety partnership that exists between the Gaithersburg Police, the Montgomery County Police and the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service."

The Gaithersburg Police Department is a nationally-accredited law enforcement agency that shares responsibility for services with the Montgomery County Police, providing coverage 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The Department responds to calls for service as necessary, and utilizes community action teams, when appropriate, to solve problems and deal with issues affecting the safety of all City neighborhoods. For more information please contact the Gaithersburg Police Department at 301-258-6400.