Notices and Announcements

Volume 15, Issue 3

Call For Award Nominations: Galen Sparks and Susan Rocha Awards for Outstanding Public Service

Galen Sparks served as an assistant city attorney and dedicated public servant for the City of Dallas for over 27 years. He distinguished himself in a variety of areas of municipal law and generously shared his time and expertise in a way that substantially enhanced the professionalism of his fellow municipal lawyers. The TCAA “Galen Sparks Award for Outstanding Public Service” is intended to recognize and honor a current or former city attorney or assistant city attorney for significant and distinguished career achievements in the field of municipal law.

The TCAA board grants one award each year for an in-house city attorney or assistant city attorney.

Susan Rocha served as an assistant city attorney for the City of San Antonio early in her career, and went on to be a trailblazer in municipal law. She served as president of both the Texas City Attorneys Association and the International Municipal Lawyers Association, and was a mentor and role model for many attorneys in the field due to her hard work, many achievements, and – of course – irrepressible personality. The TCAA “Susan Rocha Award for Outstanding Public Service” is intended to recognize and honor a current or former city attorney or assistant city attorney for significant and distinguished career achievements in the field of municipal law.

The TCAA board grants one award each year for outside counsel serving as a city attorney or assistant city attorney.

The recipients of these awards will be honored at the TCAA Summer Conference at the Isla Grand in South Padre Island. In addition, TCAA will provide complimentary registration and two nights of lodging for the conference. The deadline to submit a nomination is April 17, 2020. Downloadable criteria and the nomination form are available HERE.

Call For Award Nominations: TCAA Outstanding Mentor Award

Just about every lawyer has a mentor who guided his or her career. In an effort to recognize the efforts of a special municipal law mentor, the TCAA Board of Directors created the TCAA “Outstanding Mentor Award.” The award is intended to recognize and honor a municipal attorney for his or her significant and distinguished mentoring achievements related to young attorneys and their practice in the field of municipal law.

The nominee must have demonstrated the qualities of a mentor to one or more young municipal attorneys by: (1) serving as a role model to young municipal lawyers in his or her community; (2) fostering the development of young municipal lawyers; and (3) significantly contributing to the profession and/or the community.

The recipient of this award will be honored at the TCAA Summer Conference at the Isla Grand in South Padre Island. In addition, TCAA will provide complimentary registration and two nights of lodging for the conference. The deadline to submit a nomination is April 17, 2020. Downloadable criteria and the nomination form are available HERE.

2020 TCAA Summer Conference!

The 2020 Summer Conference at the Isla Grand Beach Resort in South Padre Island is scheduled June 17-19.

TCAA Training Events and Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19)

TCAA is monitoring developments related to the novel coronavirus – including tracking travel restrictions, statewide developments, and following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  We want to assure city officials who are planning to attend training events that safety and security are our top priorities.

TML and most of its affiliates have cancelled most training events taking place between now and the beginning of May. 

At this time, we’re still planning to proceed with the TCAA Summer Conference.  If the situation changes due to a regional quarantine or state emergency declaration, TCAA will reschedule or cancel the conference and notify all registrants.

Event Cancellation Policy

Registrants whose travel or other plans are impacted by the coronavirus may request a full refund.

Regular event cancellation fees/policy as outlined on the event website will be applied to all other cancellation requests.

Attendees should contact their hotels directly to cancel reservations, and are responsible for any cancellation or change fees.

The TCAA Summer Conference is the best CLE program created specifically for municipal lawyers. Earn up to 13 hours MCLE credit (including two ethics hours). Bring the family to experience everything South Padre Island has to offer and join us as we continue the TCAA tradition of excellence.

For more information, including housing, and to register for this conference, please go to: https://www.tcaasummerconference.org/.

Hotel Information: The online hotel reservation portal is under the “General Information” tab.

Topics Include:

  • Cybersecurity
  • Purchasing
  • Open Government
  • Regulating Noise
  • Building Codes
  • Technology in the Workplace
  • Legislative Advocacy
  • Case Updates
  • Flood Mitigation Planning and Funding
  • Utility-Related Updates
  • Credit Access Business Regulation
  • And More!

Events:

  • Wednesday, June 17 – Welcome Reception hosted by Bickerstaff Heath Delgado Acosta, LLP
  • Thursday, June 18 – Evening Reception hosted by Taylor Olson Adkins Sralla & Elam, LLP
  • Friday, June 19 – Shrimp Boil hosted by Denton Navarro Rocha Bernal & Zech

State and Local Legal Center – Upcoming Webinar on Supreme Court Midterm for States and Local Governments

From First Amendment to Faithless Electors, states and local governments have a lot to look forward to in June 2020 as the Supreme Court issues most of its opinion of the term. Join Elizabeth Prelogar, Cooley, who has written the State and Local Legal Center’s amicus brief in an excessive force case, Grant Sullivan, Office of the Colorado Attorney General, who has worked on three Supreme Court cases this term, and Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson, Bloomberg Law, in a discussion of the most interesting cases which the Supreme Court has agreed to hear since October 2019 forstates and local governments.  Additional topics include:  abortion, governor authority to appoint judges, municipalities impounding vehicles, and much more!   

Date:   March 26
Time:   12PM CST
Register here

SAVE THE DATE – UPCOMING TCAA EVENT!

The 2020 TCAA Fall Conference will take place on October 15 in Grapevine, and will be held in conjunction with the TML Annual Conference.

Houston Area Municipal Attorneys

TCAA is excited to announce that the Houston Area Municipal Attorneys (HAMA) group has been approved as a TCAA-affiliated group! Regional attorney groups, such as HAMA, are a great way to meet and network with other city attorneys within close geographic proximity. These groups also create opportunities and time to learn about legal issues facing cities and gain insight into solutions that can be applied across all city organizations.

Attorneys serving cities located within 75 miles of downtown Houston are encouraged to participate in HAMA’s meetings. For more information about HAMA or meeting details, please email Rebecca Andrews, HAMA President, Rebecca.Andrews@bbklaw.com or Derra Purnell, HAMA Vice President, DPurnell@olsonllp.com.

TCAA Online Membership Directory

Looking to find the contact information for a fellow TCAA member? You can find it using the TCAA membership directory, available here:  http://members.tml.org/Web/Online/Directories/TCAA_Directory.aspx

IMLA Membership

Membership with IMLA doesn’t just mean discounts to their events. It’s much more than that. Click here to view a quick video about IMLA membership.

Continuing Legal Education

2019 TCAA Summer and Fall Conferences

These TCAA online seminars are FREE, allowing TCAA members who are city attorneys, assistant city attorneys, or attorneys who regularly practice municipal law to view each video from the conference in a singlesession format. Viewing a session allows attorneys to receive participatory CLE credit with the State Bar. To view available seminars, please visit tcaaonlineseminars.org. (Use the case-sensitive password “FreeCLE” to gain access to the sessions.)

If you would like to have an article considered for publication in the TCAA newsletter, please send your request to Christy Drake-Adams at christy@tml.org.