City Attorney Jonathan Hobbs introduces addition to Elk Grove’s legal staff
Woes continue for the beleaguered department
Elk Grove city attorney Jonathan Hobss introduced the latest addition to the city’s legal staff during the Wednesday, January 24 Elk Grove City Council meeting. Joining the city attorney’s office legal staff is Mr. Emilio Camacho. Before joining Hobbs’ Elk Grove City Hall staff, Mr. Camacho worked in the Sacramento City Attorney’s office.
Mr. Camacho was admitted to the California State Bar (SB #282507) in May 2012. He has no disciplinary record with the state bar.
A speaker biography for a League of California Cities conference describes his Sacramento city attorney office’s duties as “responsible for Advising the Sacramento Police Department. He also advises various departments on Homeless-related issues. He has extensive legal experience including advisory, administrative prosecution, civil prosecution, criminal prosecution, civil litigation, and appeals.”
Mr. Camacho joined Elk Grove in October. In addition to the usual legal matters confronting the city’s legal staff that come with representing Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen and her four city councilmen, the city faces high-profile and embarrassing lawsuits.
Along with defending a lawsuit from Long Beach, Calif.-based Excelerate Housing over their Oak Rose apartments, the city is confronting a lawsuit by California Attorney General Rob Bonta. The state is suing the city over violations of fair housing laws resulting from their July 2022 rejection of the Oak Rose supportive housing project.
Mayor Singh-Allen has repeatedly stated a settlement with Oak Rose is imminent. However, it has not been noted what effect the reported settlement has on Bonta’s lawsuit. Along with Elk Grove, Bonta is aggressively pursuing lawsuits with other California municipalities for violating fair housing.
Even as he expands the city’s legal staff, for years, Hobbs has been criticized for outsourcing work to his former employer, Sacramento-based Kroncik Moskovitz Tiedemann & Girard. Hobbs has refused to answer inquiries if he has current financial ties to the firm where he was a partner.
Additionally, Hobbs’ legal guidance given to Mayor Singh-Allen in July 2022 (see second video below) justifying the rejection of the Old Town supportive housing project proved flawed. Hobbs tacitly admitted his failure in September when he advised Singh-Allen to reverse their July 2022 denial.
At the behest of vocal opponents to the project, Singh-Allen and the city council rejected Hobbs’ advice and refused to take any action. Instead, Singh-Allen’s settlement, which she said would be revealed on February 28, is expected to cost Elk Grove taxpayers millions.
