Benjamin R. picture

Benjamin R. Jones

Partner

Orange County

t: (949) 223-1170

d: (949) 250-5430

e: bjones@awattorneys.com

VCard

Bio

Benjamin R. Jones is dedicated to public service and has spent nearly his entire legal career representing cities and other local public agencies. He is a partner in the firm’s Irvine office and currently serves as Assistant City Attorney for the Cities of Carson and Perris.

In his role as Assistant City Attorney, Ben serves as primary counsel to  both cities’ Planning Commissions and to the Carson Mobile Home Rent Review Board, and supports the City Attorney in advising both City Councils. He advises city clients on complex development projects and legislative actions and maintains a broad public law practice encompassing open government compliance (Brown Act, Public Records Act, and Political Reform Act), land use and zoning, housing law, environmental law and CEQA, contracts and procurement, community services, elections, municipal fees and taxation, cannabis regulation, and telecommunications regulation. Ben also has substantial experience advising on municipal code enforcement, contract disputes, public works, labor and employment,  and mobile home park closure and relocation laws.

Ben is Chair of A&W’s Cannabis Law Practice Group and served as a member of the League of California Cities’ Community Services Policy Committee from 2023 through 2025. Prior to joining A&W in 2017, Ben practiced municipal law at another firm for nearly three years.

• Crafted proposed regulations to address issues related to protection of public health & safety and the environment arising from industrial warehousing and logistics facilities and other heavy truck-related uses;

• Developed and implemented city land use regulations and enforcement mechanisms protecting residents against industrial storage and use of hazardous materials;

• Pursued code enforcement action resulting in cessation of unpermitted hazardous land uses;

• Helped prepare AB 2782, state legislation that established greater protections for mobile home residents in California by broadening cities’ local powers to impose critical conditions on mobilehome park closures to avoid unmitigated displacement of vulnerable residents;

• Helped establish local programs for preservation of mobilehome home parks, negotiate maximum relocation for residents impacted by mobilehome park closures, and establish a program of relocation assistance aid and resources to displaced residents of a mobilehome park ordered closed by court order;

• Developed a city ordinance banning flavored tobacco products and vaping devices in light of a rise in vaping sites close to the City’s schools and parks;

• Helped establish and implement municipal COVID-19 relief measures, including a program of free grocery and meal deliveries to seniors, a mobile home space rent increase moratorium, and price-gouging restrictions;

• Helped procure and establish contracts and grants for new and improved public transportation system services and other community services programs and activities;

• Helped cities establish programs for regulation and taxation of commercial cannabis uses and activities;

• Negotiated wireless telecommunication facility license agreements and crafted regulations for wireless telecommunication facility sites.

• Assistant City Attorney, Carson

• Assistant City Attorney, Perris

• Deputy City Attorney, Rancho Palos Verdes

• Deputy City Attorney, Rancho Mirage

• Deputy City Attorney, Desert Hot Springs

• Interim Deputy City Attorney, Moreno Valley

  • State Bar of California

  • US District Court, Central District of California

  • Western City Magazine Article "A 2024 legal decision will impact local control over existing wireless facilities" Read

  • Daily Journal "The constitutional significance of charter cities' Senate Bill 9 win" Read

 

 

  • Recognized by Best Lawyers 2025, 2026
  • Recognized by Super Lawyers 2024, 2025

  • League of California Cities Community Services Policy Committee Member, 2023-2025
  • Aleshire & Wynder Cannabis Law Practice Group Chair
  • Aleshire & Wynder Recruitment Committee Member

  • Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, CA, JD, 2013

  • Emory University, Atlanta, GA, BA, 2009