Who Has the Power to Fire a Deputy City Attorney? [Part 2 on the Termination of Curtis Davis]
Attorney Curtis Davis, who served as Deputy City Attorney for the City of Eureka from January to June 2025 before being abruptly terminated. [Photo by Ryan Littleton]
Curtis Davis, former Deputy City Attorney for the City of Eureka, alleges he was fired in June 2025 in direct retaliation for offering legal advice the City Manager didn’t like. Now, he’s questioning whether City Manager Miles Slattery even had the legal authority to terminate him in the first place.
Davis explained that he was hired as Eureka’s Deputy City Attorney after an initial informal interview with then-City Attorney Autumn Luna, followed by a formal panel interview that included Luna, HR Director Will Folger, and a Planning Director for the city.
Curtis Davis is seen here, swearing to uphold the Constitution, state and local law, as well as the Eureka Charter, and taking his oath of office, administered by Mayor Kim Bergel on February 4th. [Screenshot from Eureka City Council meeting video]v
During the short notice Friday afternoon termination meeting of June 6 at Davis’ office inside City Hall, he described meeting City Manager Slattery and HR Director Folger, at Slattery’s invitation. Davis explained that when he was joined in his office at the time by HR Director Folger and Slattery, and Slattery handed him the exit paperwork, his only statement to Davis was, “We’re going in a different direction,” without a substantive explanation for the abrupt change in course.
Note: As we stated in Part 1, City Manager Miles Slattery declined to comment on the personnel matter, citing confidentiality.
Hired & Fired
The Deputy Attorney position is not specifically outlined within the Eureka City Charter or the City’s Personnel Rules and Regulations. In a thorough review of each publicly available document, there is no specific mention of who is responsible for firing the Deputy City Attorney, apart from a provision directing the Council to “administer” the office of City Attorney.
City Manager Miles Slattery confirmed by email that the Deputy City Attorney position is not outlined in the Charter or in the Personnel Rules and Regulations, noting that the position is only described on the City’s website. There, the position is described as being under the supervision and direction of the City Attorney.
Believing there should be a more transparent, formal process involved in “separating” from city employment, Davis asserted that there was an abuse of authority on the part of City Manager Miles Slattery in regard to his termination in June. Davis explained, “If the City Manager had the ability to fire the Deputy City Attorney, that would give the City Manager so much influence and the ability to interfere with the City Attorney complying with the City Attorney’s ethical duties and the Deputy City Attorney’s ethical duties to effectively represent the City… ”
![The letter given to Davis at the time of his dismissal, in his office at City Hall, only made reference to the “Separating” from the City, and did not offer any insight as to the dismissal itself, or as to who had made the decision to let him go. [Cropped exit letter provided by the City of Eureka to Davis at his exit meeting]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/image2-2-e1754376850672.jpg)
The letter given to Davis at the time of his dismissal, in his office at City Hall, only made reference to the “Separating” from the City, and did not offer any insight as to the dismissal itself, or as to who had made the decision to let him go. [Cropped exit letter provided by the City of Eureka to Davis at his exit meeting]
To Charter, or Not To Charter
According to the City of Eureka’s website, with over 200 full-time employees “who deliver quality municipal services to its approximately 27,000 citizens” and an annual operating budget of “about $64.9 million,” Eureka boasts having “a cooperative and supportive executive team, all working under the leadership of a City Manager.”
That leadership, former Deputy City Attorney Curtis Davis believes, could be suffering under Slattery’s tenure. “[T]he City Manager is very uninformed about the law and how a City Attorney’s office functions, and he’s also very uninformed about the legal system in general,” said Davis. He argues that the City Attorney’s branch needs to be independent of the City Manager in order to provide effective legal counsel without fear of firing. He stated “ …[I]t’s very dangerous for the City, and that’s why he was so comfortable firing the deputy City Attorney who was in essence the acting City Attorney – because he doesn’t have that understanding of how important and how dangerous that act is.”
According to the Charter, the City Attorney is “the chief legal advisor and prosecutor of the city” to “advise all officers and agencies of the city on legal matters referred to the City Attorney,” and to “act as counsel in behalf of the city or any of its officers or agencies in litigation involving any of them in their official capacity.” Davis explained that he understood this to mean that his legal advice to Councilmembers or to the City Manager would be expected and respected.
Eureka is a Charter City, and operates under a “Council-Manager” framework, where the council appoints a City Manager “to oversee the administrative operations, implement its policies, and advise its public functions” with the manager position being “similar to that of a corporate chief executive officer,” as explained by Wikipedia. This structure gives Slattery, as the City Manager, a great deal of control over city government, leaving the Council and the City Attorney’s office to offer balance related to decisions made by the city.
The City Manager essentially operates as the City’s top executive, and wields a great deal of power over city functions. Stated in Eureka’s Charter, the City Manager’s Department “will be under the direct control and management of the City Manager.”
However, while the Charter grants Slattery a great deal of control over city departments and their staff, there is no mention of the City Attorney’s office being subject to oversight or its staff being subject to termination by the City Manager. Rather, the Charter grants that obligation to the City Council.
Recently named “Lawyer of The Year” by Best Lawyers in America in the area of Municipal Law, we asked Attorney Michael Jenkins for his thoughts on the structure of Eureka’s city government as laid out in the Charter, specifically as to the relationship between the City Attorney’s office and the City Manager. Speaking generally, Jenkins has said in regard to the working relationship between a city attorney and a manager, “No City Attorney is comfortable working for and being subject to being fired by the City Manager.”
Explaining that the structure of local government usually holds the two offices as equals, allowing the Attorney to have independence from the Manager in order to ensure accountability, Jenkins said, “ Typically, the City Attorney and the City Manager are co-equals, both hired and fired by the city council.”
![PHOTO CITY - pair of crows circling city hall Image of Eureka City Hall [photo by Ryan Hutson]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/image8.jpg)
Eureka City Hall [Photo by Ryan Hutson]
The Charter does make clear that the Eureka City Council is responsible for the appointment of the City Attorney, but does so without specific mention of the Deputy position, a job that operates under “supervision” of the City Attorney. In the charter, where the Office of City Attorney is outlined, it reads, “the City Attorney is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the City Council.”
The charter also gives the Council the power to “remove” the City Attorney – and that authority Davis argues includes power to terminate the Deputy City Attorney position as part of the City Attorney Office. According to the Charter, Eureka’s City Council is given “proper authority” to fire a City Attorney, despite the City Manager’s expansive control over other city departments and their staff. Notably, although the City Attorney’s office is expected to perform work “requested” by the the City Manager, the Manager is not mentioned in regard to oversight of the City Attorney’s office.
Looking at the City Charter’s guidance on terminations of various types, within the section addressing “dismissals” and again under “removal or suspension” it is noted that “any officer of the city appointed by the Council… will have a written notice of the cause of their removal or suspension from duty, and they will have the opportunity to be heard on the cause of the suspension or removal before a public hearing of the Council.” There is no section specifically addressing employees who depart from city jobs by “separation”, which was the term used describing Davis’ termination by the City.
Describing people still in the “probationary” period of their employment, the Charter says those employees can be fired “without cause or reason, notice or appeal,” a factor that Curtis Davis says he is prepared to contend with. This section also explains that the probationary staff member would “be notified prior to the expiration of the probationary period that he or she has been rejected from probation.” This language was not used in the letter or exit paperwork that Davis received, without any prior notice.
Davis confirms that neither a “written notice of the cause” or any “opportunity to be heard on the cause” was provided or offered.
Many interpret the “at-will” employment law to mean that an employer can fire any employee for any reason whenever they wish, but this is not entirely true. In California, employers do “enjoy broad flexibility when it comes to making hiring and firing decisions” as one law firm put it, but they are not supposed to make those decisions “based on illegal motives,” for instance if there is discrimination alleged.
In the City’s Personnel Rules & Regulations, the City Attorney, and presumably mid-management position of the Deputy City Attorney, are listed as “At-Will” employments.
The City’s Personnel Rules also clarify that “a probationary employee serves at the pleasure of the appointing Authority,” and “has no property right in continued employment, and has no right to any pre- or post-disciplinary procedural due process or evidentiary appeal.” Lacking a clearly delineated structure for oversight, Davis argues, the “appointing authority” of the City Attorney would be the City Council, and perhaps in contradiction to the Charter, according to a memo describing the Deputy position, the City Attorney is the “appointing authority” of the Deputy City Attorney.
Dissent Among The Ranks
After his firing, Davis had questions about whether the City Manager had proper authority to terminate him. According to Davis, “multiple times,” Slattery told Davis he was “his employee,” in an informal social setting – a moment he has since reflected on with concern. Davis explained that he found those comments to be ill informed, “because the Council appoints the City Attorney, and the City Attorney hires the deputy City Attorney, and there’s checks and balances built into the charter.”
The City Attorney’s office is not one of those “departments” like Parks, Planning, Police or Treasurer which are listed as under the control of the City Manager, but rather, is a separate arm of the city government intended to provide balance and independent legal oversight in a city’s best interest.
“I want to be clear, the City Manager, from my view, terminated my employment,” Davis said, putting the onus on Slattery. “He handed me the exit paperwork. He texted me to come into the office, said he had to meet with me… Never said anything about Bob Black’s involvement,” Davis stated, asserting that the Interim City Attorney had not been consulted. Davis also explained that neither the Mayor nor the Council had any part in his firing, as far as he was aware.
Davis warned that under the current structure, the City Manager may have opportunities to sway internal decisions in ways that could raise ethical concerns. Davis offered a hypothetical scenario, similar to his own predicament. “The Council appoints the City Manager,” Davis said, “and you can imagine, if the deputy City Attorney raises ethical issues from a Councilmember, the City Manager has the incentive to step in and try to shut up the deputy City Attorney, to protect the city Councilmember, to gain favor …and have support from the Councilmember..”
After taking a glance at Eureka’s Charter, Jenkins concluded that Eureka’s city government was similar to other Charter Cities, but noted that it would be unusual for Eureka’s City Attorney’s office to be subject to oversight by the Manager. “It’s not common for the City Attorney or even the deputy City Attorney to work for and to be subject to being fired by the City Manager,” said Jenkins, leaning on more than 40 years experience as a City Attorney and educator in local law. Jenkins clarified, “Every city, of course, is different,” adding, “It’s not illegal for that to be the setup.”
Asked what is the more common arrangement, Jenkins replied, “I would say that the prevailing practice is that the City Attorney works for the City Council and is hired and fired only by the City Council.”
CONCLUSION Part 2
In reflecting on his possible case against the City related to wrongful termination, despite the probationary period and “at-will” designation of the position, Davis mused, “People have since told me that, ‘…it’s not going to hurt your reputation.’ Because they understand how volatile he is and how impulsive he is. And so I’ve gotten good advice, and that’s been validating… .” Davis added, “People know that I probably did do the right thing. And I did.”
He is proud of his previous work over the past seven years, litigating “complex and high profile matters in California courts,” including employment cases on behalf of plaintiffs who presented cases against their former employers, and is proud of his ethical stance after being fired by Slattery. “I fulfilled my oath that I took in front of Council, that the Mayor just administered to me, and so I’m doing fine. I’m sleeping well at night,” Davis stated.
Asked what legal claims he is considering, Davis pointed to potential violations of Labor Code section 1102.5” which protects whistleblowers, adding that he would be citing “the retaliation statute”. Davis also said in regard to his assertion that the City Manager was overstepping his authority by firing him, “…It would be the violation of the city charter…[I]t was an unlawful termination.”
Davis believes his termination was prompted by City Manager Miles Slattery’s “impulsive and retaliatory” response to Davis’ legal advice issued roughly a day earlier. Davis said that internal disagreements and ethical concerns he raised within City Hall may have contributed to the outcome.
Meanwhile, Robert Black continues to serve as Interim City Attorney for Eureka, and the City has not posted the Deputy City Attorney position for rehire.
The details surrounding Davis’ unforeseen “separation” from the City raise broader questions about Eureka’s Charter and Personnel Rules, and the independence of its legal staff. While Davis weighs his legal options, the structure and the process that led to his termination remain a topic of public interest–and, potentially, policy review.
Earlier:
- Eureka’s Deputy City Attorney Asserts He Was Fired Amid Ethics Disputes
- Former Deputy City Attorney Alleges Abuse of Power by Eureka City Manager
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Welcome to the corrupt county. Corrupt lazy police that don’t do shit other then make up excuses., two hospitals that are grossly negligent. And 2 serial killers running around.
There may be corruption in the County but this non-story offers no proof of that.
Mr. Davis is a disgruntled ex-employee who was let go during his probationary period, most likely for incompetence and insubordination.
After reading John Chiv’s take on the baseless allegations raised by Davis I decided not to waste my time reading Part 2.
Dismissing the Mr. Davis without even reading the article. Sounds like something Miles Slattery would do.
Part 1 laid out the basis for Mr. Davis’ potential wrongful termination claims — Part 2 is just a Word Salad follow on — as an at will probationary employee Mr. Davis doesn’t have a legal leg to stand on.
John Chiv’s comments — which are quoted in the comments to Part 1 — underscore that Mr. Davis has nothing of substance to offer — which aligns with my comment to Part 1. [See below.]
https://kymkemp.com/2025/08/04/alleged-abuse-of-power-by-eureka-city-manager-alleges-former-deputy-city-attorney/#comment-1854739
Finding myself bored and with time on my hands I read Part 2 which confirms this is nothing more than gaslighting from a disgruntled ex-employee aided and abetted by a “reporter” desperate to make a story out of nothing.
The story repeatedly conflates the status, rights and duties of the City Attorney (who is hired and can only be fired by the City Council) and that of a probationary Deputy City Attorney who thought he was “in essence the Acting City Attorney” right up until the moment he was fired.
Luna resigned as CA on May 6 and Black was appointed Interim CA on May 7 so at best Davis might have been the acting CA for one day but he asserts that when he was fired on June 6 he was “in essence” the acting CA — thereby proving he’s delusional in addition to being incompetent.
The story repeatedly cites the lack of any cause being given for his dismissal but as a probationary employee he was not entitled to an explanation — only an idiot would think otherwise.
As for Chiv, I’ve read very little of his stuff and don’t have any feelings about him one way or the other — but he called out a valid point about disclosing the identity of a minor — it was I’ll-advised of Ryan to print the cover letter of the lawsuit without redacting the minor’s name — and ridiculous because the article confirmed there was no conflict of interest related to the lawsuit.
And Chiv is correct on another point — instead of Davis publicly spreading his falsehoods he needs to put up or shut up — if he thinks he has a case — he needs to bring it — and put it fairly and squarely in the legal and public arena — otherwise it’s no better than the gossip mongering that some attribute to Chiv.
John Chiv is a vindictive gossip blogger that exaggerates his experience and does not hesitate to render his unqualified opinions. Chiv is slandering Mr. Davis because he wouldn’t answer Chiv’s requests. Anyone with common sense knows Chiv is NOT a journalist.
The importance of reading anything would be lost on a person who gives John Chiv’s words weight.
We have seen many issues within eureka’s management. From the double job role of a mayor/county administrator. To judges being publicly admonished , CALPERS is a whopping 250 plus million in our county alone. I know who I’m hiring ,if I need to go against the city!!!
you’re conflating the city of eureka and the county of humboldt.
There must be some oversight of city, county and other “local” bodies. This will probably end up in the courts and be expensive.
The city would rather spend half a million of your dollars defending their actions than follow sound legal advice.
If the action was taken by city officials, there’s definitely corruption involved. Same with county and state in Communist California. The best advice is don’t work for any part of government in this state.
California has to be one of the most rapidly capitalistic states in the nation. It’s evident by the amount of economic inequality, the opposite of communism.
To your point, there are literally more billionaires in California than any other state. If California were communist then we’d be redistributing their wealth, instead Newsom’s making bedfellows with them.
Miles Slattery is incompetent. The Eureka city council is a failed state.
Mr. Slatterly is extremely competent at what he does, which is grifting off grants and doing the bidding of his overlords (who are not us).
Humboldt County has the record for “Separating New Employees” in almost every Department…
If you don’t know somebody, or aren’t related to the hiring officer, you probably didn’t get the job in the first place…
It’s OK dude, they need you in some other county…
AND, White Males are out, Asian Females are the preferred hire in rural areas… And Russians…
slow down on that noticing, this is an important farming area, the Bay Area needs our crops, you know that have lost 80 percent of their birth rate, scientist are trying to figure it out, perhaps something in the hetch hetchy? They need this place
This is from faceboook. Another good reason to fire idiot Miles S.
Why can’t you keep it in the enormous lane over to the left? Looks standard. If you can’t navigate that in your little car without hitting the curb you should not be driving!
I think the reason they put the islands there is because it’s fairly common for bicyclists to get run over by trucks turning right, their blind side. My friends daughter was killed this way.
that’s a CalTrans project
the top agent here for that agency is a bike rider, this is what the whole thing is about, green new deal bagmen. In the end this will all end up on the rubbish heap, along with most of the premasticated ideas the plebs here soaked down their gullet with. Did no one explain how the dialectic cycle works to these budding authoritarians? Do they not know what comes next?? The move work used to delay the swing the harder the swing. U can not save the way of thinking that got us here, this is the end of classic left right Americanism. Prepare your mind. Truth will be fatal this season
Would it shock u to know cal trans is locally bent on this cars < bikes thing?? Bay Area mafia shit.
Not at all, progressive thinking is a fucked up expirement in communist economics.
Genius….that’s caltrans
The failed city of Eureka has these things all over the place. And all that green paint is off gassing the ozone and penguins are dieing.
Genius…..
Mayberry in the twilight zone
Miles is the homie, seems like he’s done a more effective job in Eureka than anyone in my 30 years here, sure there will be issues and obviously he ain’t perfect. He stood up to Arkley – go Miles. Proud to call him a friend!
Concur!
Standing up to the man who single-handedly did more for this city than anyone else does not make one more “effective” — unless you’re talking about pushing a far-Left agenda most of us don’t care for.
My therapist Dr. Aunna Bollman told me all about this guy and the stupid chuckholes he has been digging on broadway to place monitoring stations and echo locators. He has access to the tunnel network that connects all the cities to the Ingomar, airport and the “naturally occurring hill” that Founders Hall sits on top of at the university. Its called a civil defense bunker, all of it connected via a people mover. My therapist was so traumatized by these revelations that I actually ended up becoming the therapist’s therapist.
More information please!
Eureka has mechanical camera snakes that they use from the sewer that pop up out of your toilet and can audio and camera record. They’re like flexible tubes with a camera lense on the end. Some of the snakes even allow depositions of suppositories without consent. Slattery has been using these cameras for years to easedrop on conversations. Ever notice when you look at your toilet hole, a shadow appears deep into the toilet water and moves back as you walk up to use the toilet? My therapist would always put the lid down on the toilet and put a glass on top of it. If she would enter the bathroom to use it and the glass was broken on the floor, she knew it was a toilet snake.
There are tunnels in both Arcata and Eureka I do not know that they connect but this is common any city or town where you find attractive architecture (which is to say nothing erected in any of our lifetimes) you’ll find often extensive tunnel networks
Using an internet search engine to look up “tunnel networks under cities” is revealing.
That’s a fun name to Google…
Holy smokes! The doctor is the patient! Wild gal ol Doc Bollman.
It appears the guy did not pass probation & he now thinks he has a case?
John Chiv (Bum with a blog)
looks like RHBB has the real connection on this story…
from chiv:
”If you have not read my previous posts on former City of Eureka Deputy City Attorney Curtis Davis, you should. I have consistently reported first and with court records on Davis’ abrupt departure. I was also the first to report on the Fusion Smoke and Glass lawsuit.
RHBB and Ryan Hutson chose to share a court document with a cover page listing a minor and mentioning Eureka Councilmember Renee Contreras- DeLoach . I knew about that lawsuit. I certainly would not cover it for Davis’ agenda. It is newsworthy on its own because of Eureka City Schools and how they address bullying .
RHBB irresponsibly chose to print a minor’s name with that one page of a court document which did nothing to help anyone other than Davis’ instiable need for attention. What exactly did putting this minor’s name out there achieve?”
.
.
Chiv, the worlds best reporter…?….or not…..
Chiv: “Me…me…me…I was first to report local gossip…me…more about me…I am only one in courtroom…I think this…I predict that…” Chiv is a gossip blogger with no legal experience but loves to imply otherrwise.
Whether you love John or hate him, he’s done a lot to push more mainstream media to cover the courtroom. We needed that and he deserves kudos for that even though I don’t much care for his characterization of RHBB today.
You always keep it classy while keeping the community informed, Kym. Thank you.
Thank you.
Small town politics can be vicious. You have governing councils/boards with limited education and real business experience and many City Managers/CAOs who are insecure and controlling who resent advice they don’t agree with and egos that cause them to exaggerate and misrepresent with impunity. Enter an attorney or other licensed professional who has a code of ethics and they must follow and it can get dicey. Attorneys should report to the governing boards to provide checks and balances. I am repeatedly shocked at councils/boards who trust their appointed City Managers/CAO to operate without checks and balances
“What is a Petty Tyrant?”, by Carlos Castaneda https://suzannewagner.com/showcase/what-is-a-petty-tyrant-by-carlos-castaneda/
Toxic leader https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxic_leader
Add stalking and harassment to his current resume as he should be served with a restraining order for being a creep
Ca is a at will state . You can be fired for no reason. My wife got fired years ago for having the wrong cell provider and not switching to the same plan as the boss. NLRB said he is allowed to do that .