After 10 years of service with the City of Huntington Beach, City Attorney Michael Gates announced his planned departure this past Monday.
In a press release provided by the City of Huntington Beach via their social media channels, Gates paints his tenure as a golden era for the City. He boasts of saving the City more than $300 million, favorably details the City’s voter-ID fight and lays claim to a downtown crime-reduction division’s 11% reduction in criminal activity.
“The residents must know how profoundly grateful I am for the opportunity to serve the City I grew up in. The opportunity to give Huntington Beach 10 of the best years of my professional and personal life since 2014 has been incredibly rewarding and fulfilling,” said Gates.
Gates led the way in suing the State of California in 2023, winning $38 million for the City. While his transition comes amid a flurry of local, state and federal government changes as the new Trump administration guts federal spending, he believes that he is leaving the City in the capable hands of Chief Assistant City Attorney Mike Vigliotta. Gates provided his glowing recommendation for Vigliotta, who has worked for Huntington Beach nearly twice as long as Gates.
“Vigliotta will be the perfect replacement to carry the City’s legal battles forward, including continuing with the City’s Voter ID law, the high-density housing fights and the City’s important legal battle over the State’s Sanctuary Law,” said Gates.
Gates’ path leads him to the Civil Rights Division at the United States Department of Justice as deputy assistant attorney general, and he intends to carry forward President Trump’s “America First” agenda. He also expressed hope that the City will continue to fight the State’s “unconstitutional overreach.”