Dave picture

Dave Aleshire

Equity Partner

Orange County

t: (949) 223-1170

d: (949) 250-5409

e: daleshire@awattorneys.com

Dave Aleshire has been practicing municipal, land use, zoning, and environmental law since receiving a JD from UCLA Law School and an MA from the UCLA School of Architecture & Urban Planning. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a BA degree from Stanford University. In 2015 he was named California Lawyer Attorney of the Year in the category of Municipal Law.

Mr. Aleshire has served as City Attorney or Assistant City Attorney for 15 different cities, including Banning, Bell, Cerritos, Irvine, Irwindale, Lawndale, Norwalk, Palm Springs, Perris, San Dimas, San Jacinto, Signal Hill, Suisun, Rancho Palos Verdes, and Richmond.
He is currently City Attorney in Bell and Richmond. Mr. Aleshire has continued to specialize in land use, environmental, and economic development law.

Mr. Aleshire’s career has been filled with major projects including creating the Auto Center and other economic development projects in Signal Hill, the development of a mining ordinance and tax and reclamation of the Irwindale mining pits, and the restoration of Bell from the 2010 corruption scandal. In Bell, within 3 years, Mr. Aleshire oversaw recovery of $29 million and elimination of $75 Million in claims and liabilities.

• In three years post-scandal as City Attorney of Bell, supervised 60 litigation/hearing matters recovering $7M in insurance and malpractice actions against former city attorney firm, auditor and insurers; negotiated settlement of $38M claim by Dexia of bond default with no payment by City and sale of property netting City $15M; negotiating settlement of $5.6M foreclosure action to allow City to keep the property for $2M with payment from State funds; defeated claims of Bell 8 for over $10M of indemnification; and obtained judicial approval that Supplemental Pension fund was illegally created, allowing City to escape $3M unfunded liability and recover $4.6M in the account.

• Creating Carson Reclamation Authority for $100 million cleanup and negotiating a development and financing agreement for an $800 million dollar entertainment and mixed use project with Lennar on a 157-acre site on a former landfill (including a $100 million dollar site remediation program), and subsequently negotiating to build an NFL Stadium with the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders.

• Creation of the Signal Hill Auto Center now approaching 50 acres with some 15 brands, and generating over $3 Million in annual sales taxes to the City.

• Overcoming numerous issues in transforming the historic 1 billion barrel Signal Hill oil field, in continuous production for 75 years, with complex contamination issues, into a beautiful community with a vibrant local economy.

• Advising the Banning Public Utility and dealing with all its water issues, with a community with extraction rights from five groundwater storage basins, negotiating an acquisition of water rights from a mutual water district owning a 100-year old flume, and overseeing the development of water lines, reservoirs and recycling facilities, and processing a transfer of facilities from Southern California Edison through FERC.

• Overseeing a long term program for Irwindale to require reclamation of multiple 100+ acre mining pits with depths of over 300 feet, and achieving development agreements providing for reclamation, payment of the highest mining taxes in the state, and infrastructure development.

• Negotiating major development agreements for 1000+ acre projects for hotel, golf course, and residential development including with Pardee for development of a 5400 unit, 1600 acre project with a golf course and water features, parks, community center, satellite treatment plant and commercial center; and dealing with related sensitive environmental and endangered species issues.

• Negotiating many innovative, award-winning affordable housing projects including in Signal Hill alone: A $9 Million, 40-unit, affordable moderate income single family detached project; a $20 Million, 72-unit extremely-, very low-, low-income housing project, and a $20 Million, 92-unit, low- and very low-income family project, including a park, child care center and police substation. (This last project, Las Brisas, won the League of California Cities' prestigious Helen Putman award in 2006).

• Development of the Signal Hill Town Center including big box users such as Costco and Home Depot, but also encompassing the community's only market, Food-4-Less.

• Developing a Palm Springs power center with Lowes, Home Depot, and WalMart, located partially on a former municipal landfill site, and successfully defending the project from environmental challenges.

• Developing an Indian Gaming Casino in Palm Springs including negotiating a DDA with a tribal government and successfully defending a lawsuit by the California Attorney General.

• Reclamation of a 126-acre Irwindale mining pit and developing a 2.5 million square foot mixed use project through a development agreement with Trammel Crow (winner of a Gold Nugget Award).

• Developing major public projects including expanding the Palm Springs Convention Center twice, a championship 36-hole golf course, sewer wastewater plant expansions, parking structures, several city halls and police stations, and numerous water reservoir and other water improvements.

• Master planning the Palm Springs Airport and undertaking numerous runway and terminal expansions including developing innovative passenger facility charge financing, obtaining FAA grants and approvals, and overcoming a GSA audit of airport properties demanding tens of millions from the City General Fund.

• Negotiating lease agreements to privatize Palm Springs' wastewater treatment plant with US Filter, a Fortune 500 company.

• Developed an economic development ordinances to maximize cities' authority to pursue economic development projects in California's post-redevelopment world.

• Developing an innovative franchise program for the Town of Mammoth Lakes to facilitate underground delivery of gas to customers and requiring the franchisee to provide pipeline capacity to other suppliers.

• City Attorney, Bell

• City Attorney, Richmond

• City Attorney, Signal Hill

• City Attorney, Lawndale

• City Attorney, Irwindale

• City Attorney, Perris

• City Attorney, Banning

• City Attorney, Palm Springs

• City Attorney, Rancho Palos Verdes

• City Attorney, Suisun City

• City Attorney, San Jacinto

• State Bar of California

• US District Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit

• US District Court, Central, CA

• US District Court, Northern, CA

He has been a speaker and authored various articles on municipal law including the subjects of municipal investment, takings, economic development, casino gaming, mixed use development, government ethics and others. 

  • 2015 he was named California Lawyer Attorney of the Year in the category of Municipal Law
  • Mr. Aleshire has been AV® rated by Martindale-Hubbell's peer review rating process, which reflects the highest level of skill and integrity.

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• University of California, Los Angeles, MA Urban Planning, 1976

• University of California, Los Angeles, JD, 1975

• Stanford University, BA, 1972, Phi Beta Kappa