Public Offices Affiliations Admissions
Having specialized in the field of municipal law, public sector litigation, labor, and employment law for over 25 years, Mr. Wynder currently serves as City Attorney for the cities of Carson, located in Los Angeles County, and Cypress, located in Orange County. He has served as City Attorney or Assistant City Attorney for the cities of Lawndale, also in Los Angeles County, and the resort community of Palm Springs, located in Riverside County.
Mr. Wynder is a 1978 cum laude graduate of Pepperdine University School of Law. He served as Editor-in-Chief of the Pepperdine Law Review, and earned the "Best Advocate" award in its annual Vincent S. Dalsimer Moot Court Competition. Following graduation, Mr. Wynder clerked for the Honorable Harry Phillips (dec.), Chief Judge of the Sixth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals. Mr. Wynder began his career in 1979 with the international law firm of Latham & Watkins. He later joined the firm of Rutan & Tucker to work on what became the then-largest municipal law litigation in the County of Orange -- the dispute between the City of Anaheim, the then-California Angels, and the then-Los Angeles Rams over the rights and obligations of the parties in Anaheim Stadium. (See, Golden West Baseball Co. v. City of Anaheim (1994) 25 Ca1.App.4th 11.)
In additional to his City Attorney expertise, Mr. Wynder has an active litigation practice. He serves as chief litigation counsel for the cities he represents, and regularly defends public agency clients from a wide variety of litigated claims, including Constitutional torts, land use litigation, administrative mandate actions, public works contract disputes, and a myriad of police issues (ranging from excessive force cases to Police Officer Procedural Bill of Rights matters). Mr. Wynder also specializes in municipal rent control, where he currently serves as counsel to the Carson Mobilehome Park Rent Review Board and as special counsel to the Palm Springs Rent Review Commission.
Most recently, Mr. Wynder was successful in expanding the protections afforded taxpayers and every public agency in California under Government Code Section 1090 (one of the state’s important conflict of interest statutes). In Carson Redevelopment Agency v. Padilla (2006) 140 Cal.App.4th 1323, the Court of Appeals expanded the reach of Section 1090 to include a governmental decision to award a contract to private party defendant who was the victim of extortion by a corrupt public official (the court declared the contract void and required the private party defendant to disgorge $1 million in financial benefits back to the redevelopment agency).
Mr. Wynder was also successful in protecting the independence of municipal administrative agencies charged with implementing and overseeing land use regulations. In Carson Gardens, LLC v. City of Carson Mobilehome Park Rental Review Board (2006) 135 Cal.App.4th 856, the Court of Appeals expressly held that the courts could not usurp the authority of a Carson Rent Review Board by substituting the judgment of a judge for that of the administrative body in ruling on rent increase applications. In another important litigation, also affecting every city in California, Mr. Wynder was successful in defending the authority of a City Council to remove from office an elected City Clerk due to his lack of residency within the geographic boundaries of the city. (See, Nicolopolus v. City of Lawndale (2001) 91 Cal.App.4th 221.)
Mr. Wynder has served as special counsel to the Entertainment Industry Development Corporation (the successor entity to the old Los Angeles Film Board), the Anaheim Transportation Network (a quasi-public entity formed to address transportation related issues within the City of Anaheim and its various recreational and hotel offerings), and the Rossmoor Community Services District, where he served as General Counsel to this special district for some 10 years. As special counsel, Mr. Wynder provided public law advice to the EIDC Board of Directors, consisting of representatives of the film industry, members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and members of the Los Angeles City Council. Mr. Wynder assisted EIDC during a particularly challenging period when the political decision was made to transition from a quasi-public agency to a private film industry entity.
Public Offices
City Attorney
Carson (2003-present)
Cypress (1997-present)
Lawndale (1994-2007)
Assistant City Attorney/General Counsel
Irwindale (1990-99)
Signal Hill (1990-99)
Rossmoor Community Services District (1992-2003)
Affiliations
Orange County Bar Association
Admissions
State Bar of California
US District Courts, Northern, Central & Eastern Districts of CA
US Court of Appeals, 6th & 9th Circuits
US Supreme Court
US Tax Court
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