Back to Calendar

Section | Real Property

Real Property Section Meeting


Insiders Guide to Municipal Law Hearings

SPEAKERS
Nira F. Doherty | City Attorney, City of Menlo Park
G. Inder Khalsa | City Attorney, City of Mill Valley
Elise Semonian | Community Development Director, City of Larkspur
Christina L. Desser | Marin County Planning Commission
Elizabeth A. Brekhus | Vice Mayor of Ross
Megan H. Acevedo | Town Attorney, Town of San Anselmo; General Counsel, Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority

Whether you are representing a client or have an issue relative to a case being considered by a planning body, special entity, council, or supervisor, knowing how the process works is critical to influencing the decision. Elizabeth Brekhus, Vice Mayor of Ross and MCBA Past President, will be moderating a panel of city attorneys, elected and appointed members of planning bodies and a City Planner to learn the ins and outs of municipal law hearings.

Agenda:
11:30 AM to 12:00 PM: Registration & Networking
12:00 PM to 1:00 PM: Lunch & Presentation

MCBA IS AN APPROVED PROVIDER AND CERTIFIES THAT THIS ACTIVITY HAS BEEN APPROVED FOR MINIMUM CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT BY THE STATE BAR OF CALIFORNIA IN THE AMOUNT OF 1.0 HOUR TOWARDS GENERAL CLE.

Photographs will be taken at this Event. By taking part in this Event, you consent to having your image captured by official photographers for the Marin County Bar Association (MCBA). You also grant the MCBA full rights to use the resulting images for publicity or other purposes to help promote the MCBA, without any compensation to you. This might include (but is not limited to), the right to use images in the MCBA’s printed and online publicity, website, social media, and press releases. If you do not wish to be photographed, please inform the MCBA prior to the Event.

Accessibility: People with disabilities and/or special requests should contact MCBA regarding reasonable accommodations.

Substitution, Cancellation, and Refund Requests: For MCBA In-Person Meetings and Events a 50% refund is available if you cancel at least 10 business days prior to the event. If you are unable to attend, you may send a substitute (Non-Members pay price difference). Please email your request to events@marinbar.org

If you wish to be removed from this distribution list at any time, please send your request to: events@marinbar.org


1.0 CLE | General


Plated Lunch Included with Program

Meal Options:
- Roast Sirloin of Beef
- Pacific Red Snapper Meuniere
- (v) Pasta Primavera (gluten free)

Meals served with: mixed green salad, vegetables, french bread, ice cream and coffee or tea.


Contact

Denise Belli | Email
Mee Mee Wong | Email


10/26/2022 12:00 PM 10/26/2022 1:00 PM America/Los_Angeles Real Property Section Meeting Insiders Guide to Municipal Law Hearings San Rafael Joe's, 931 Fourth Street, San Rafael, CA, 94901 Marin County Bar Association info@marinbar.org false MM/DD/YYYY

Registration

Registration for this event has ended

Date and Location

Wednesday | October 26, 2022
12:00-1:00P

San Rafael Joe's
931 Fourth Street
San Rafael, CA 94901

Speaker Information

Nira F. Doherty

City Attorney, City of Menlo Park

Nira Doherty is an experienced city attorney, litigator, and land use expert. Her litigation and transactional practices emphasize land use, CEQA, housing and government law issues. She serves as the City Attorney for the City of Menlo Park, General Counsel for the Tahoe Transportation District, and Assistant City Attorney for the City of Benicia.

Nira serves as special counsel to dozens of city and public agency clients on land use, zoning, CEQA and Subdivision Map Act matters. She represents clients in all phases of development including entitlement and administrative approvals, general plan updates, CEQA compliance and enforcement of zoning laws.

Nira advises public agency clients on State housing laws including Density Bonus Law, SB 35, Housing Accountability Act, SB 330 and ADU laws. She has negotiated and drafted development agreements and performed affordable housing diligence review.

Nira has also overseen citizen initiatives from inception to election and represented cities in litigation regarding ballot measures. She has successfully served as lead attorney in litigation involving CEQA, general plan updates, inverse condemnation, contract disputes, health and safety receiverships, code enforcement matters, and tort claims.

Nira graduated from UC Davis School of Law where she was a member of the UC Davis Law Review and Editor-in-Chief of the UC Davis Environmental Law and Policy Journal. Nira externed for the former Chief Judge Vaughn Walker of the U.S. District Court, N. Dist. of California and clerked for Judge Steven Bernard of the Colorado Court of Appeals.

Website

G. Inder Khalsa

City Attorney, City of Mill Valley

Inder Khalsa has been advising on administrative and transactional public law matters with the firm for 16 years, with a particular focus on land use, planning, zoning, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), clean energy, affordable housing, and real estate matters. She also has expertise in creation and operations of Joint Powers Authorities. Inder counsels local government agencies on all aspects of municipal governance, including the interpretation, application of, and compliance with the Brown Act, Public Records Act, Political Reform Act, and other conflict of interest and ethics laws.

WORK FOR CLIENTS: Inder serves as City Attorney to the City of Davis and the City of Mill Valley, and as Assistant City Attorney to the City of Fairfield. Inder is the General Counsel to the Valley Clean Energy Alliance, San Francisco Local Agency Formation Commission and the East Bay Community Energy Authority. Inder has represented a number of other public entities as Special Counsel.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Inder began her career at Richards, Watson & Gershon as a summer associate in 2001. She served as Assistant City Attorney for the City of Vallejo from 2012 to 2015, where she represented the city’s Economic Development Department on land use planning, real estate, and environmental law issues, as well as the Housing Authority and the Successor Agency. During the three years Inder worked in Vallejo, she represented the city in complex negotiations with developers, responsible parties, and state and federal agencies.

Since returning to RWG, Inder has continued to develop her expertise in land use, zoning, affordable housing, telecommunications, joint powers authorities, and clean energy/community choice programs.

Website

Elise Semonian

Community Development Director, City of Larkspur

Elise Semonian has served as the Community Development Director for Larkspur since April 2022. Prior to working for Larkspur, Elise worked as a Planning Director for the Town of San Anselmo and planner for the Town of Ross and City of Mill Valley. She has a BA in Political Science from CSU Chico and a law degree from the University of San Francisco, and is an inactive member of the State Bar of California.

Website

Christina L. Desser

Marin County Planning Commission

Chris Desser is an artist, writer, and advocate for progressive social change and hosts conversations with writers and activists on Enthusiasms on KWMR. For four years she has served on the Marin County Planning Commission, currently as chair. She previously served on the California Coastal Commission and the San Francisco Commission for the Environment.

She was a Fellow at On the Commons, a think tank focused on developing the concept of The Commons as an overarching analytical structure organizing across social sectors and disciplines. She developed A Catalogue of Extinct Experience, a collaborative art installation demonstrating that our best, creative, evolving selves grow out of and depend on preserving a diverse and evolving planet. As an artist practicing in several media, she has been invited to contribute work to many curated exhibitions.

She was the Executive Director of Earth Day 1990, the event that re-established the primacy of environmental issues on a global scale.

Author of numerous articles and essays, Chris co-edited Living with the Genie—Technology and the Quest for Human Mastery (Island Press, 2003). She has practiced environmental law and served on the boards of many companies, foundations and progressive non-profit organizations including The Women’s Donor Network, The Rockwood Leadership Institute, Patagonia, Mother Jones Magazine, the Rainforest Action Network, and the Furthur Foundation.

Website

Elizabeth A. Brekhus

Vice Mayor of Ross

Elizabeth Brekhus has been practicing real property litigation, municipal law and land use in Marin County since 1997, and has substantial trial experience.

Representative matters include failure to disclose cases, landslide and subsidence litigation, easement, encroachment and adjoining neighbor disputes, tree-view disputes, quiet title actions, inverse condemnation and eminent domain actions, litigation with cities, counties and special districts, writ proceedings, zoning matters and municipal law hearings including representation at planning commission and council meetings.

Elizabeth is serving a third 4-year term on the Town Council of Ross, and was elected the Mayor of the Town of Ross in 2014 and 2019. She is currently Vice Mayor of Ross. She was President of the Ross Valley Fire Board in 2018 and acting Director at present. She was elected President of the Marin County Council of Mayors and Council Members in 2016. She is a past President of the Marin County Bar Association.

Elizabeth leads a talented team of seasoned lawyers who work with her to deliver exceptional legal services

Elizabeth is AV rated by Martindale Hubbell.

Website

Megan H. Acevedo

Town Attorney, Town of San Anselmo; General Counsel, Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority

Megan is an attorney with Epstein Holtzapple and Christo and serves as Town Attorney for the Town of San Anselmo and General Counsel for the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority. Megan has significant experience advising and representing local entities. She has provided guidance to local officials and staff concerning a broad range of subjects, including the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), land use, and open meeting law requirements. In addition, Megan has represented public entities in litigation involving CEQA, public contract disputes, and eminent domain actions. She also litigated cases on behalf of the People of the State of California as a Deputy Attorney General for the California State Attorney General’s Office.

Megan received her J.D. from the UCLA School of Law in 2003 as part of the Public Interest Law and Policy Program. Before attending law school, she worked as a Program Assistant for a nonprofit environmental law firm. In 1995, Megan received her B.A. in American Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz with highest honors. Megan grew up in Mill Valley and continues to enjoy living in Marin County.

Education:
University of California, Santa Cruz (B.A. American Studies)
UCLA School of Law (Juris Doctor)

Website