On April 4, 2022, Darold Pieper, City Attorney of Vista, California, notified the City Council and senior staff of his intentions to retire. In an internal letter to staff and council, Attorney Pieper specified his final day of employment will be Friday June 3rd with his official retirement going into effect on June 4th of 2022. Attorney Pieper has lead the cities legal department for over 17 years. He’s helped successfully defend and prosecute countless cases for the City and citizens of Vista. The City Attorney and City Manager are the only two hires in the city that are directly hired by the City Council. It is the City Manager and City Attorneys job to enact the will of the City Council and ensure the interests of the City and citizens of Vista are protected and advanced. This will be the first time since the early 2000’s the City Council will be hiring this crucial position. Previous City Councils have not pursued an outside open call hiring process for these positions.
Councilmember Joe Green, representing District 2 stated, “This is an opportunity for our City Council to verify we have the absolute best legal team representing our city. I’m hopeful our City Council will take the appropriate time and make the appropriate effort to hire a city attorney that is familiar with the issues facing Vista, an attorney who is excited and ready to meet those issues head on. Walter Chung is a spectacular attorney on staff and will no doubt be considered and interviewed for the position. I would love to see a collaborative hiring process that includes our employees, department directors, and stakeholders. This will demonstrate that our colleagues, and stakeholder opinions have value and that we are committed to inclusion and interviewing the qualified candidates recommended through the hiring panel.”
This would be the first hiring process of its kind in Vista. Attorney Pieper is expected to publicly announce his retirement at the City Council Meeting scheduled for April 26, 2022.
