Thursday, February 27, 2003
Page 1
Assistant City Attorney Anthony Saul Alperin Dies
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Los Angeles Assistant City Attorney Anthony Saul Alperin, the city’s leading expert on municipal law and governance and one of the primary drafters of the city charter, died yesterday.
He was 56. Cause of death was not immediately released.
Alperin was top counsel to the city Ethics Commission and an expert in elections and land use law. He was most recently in charge of campaign finance reform, conflicts of interest, elections, governmental ethics, legal ethics and lobbying for the city attorney.
His enthusiasm for municipal law extended beyond his City Hall position and spurred him to author several law review articles and to found the Center for Government & Public Policy Analysis, a nonprofit group whose members meet monthly to share information on policy issues.
He was named the State Bar of California’s 1995 Public Lawyer of the Year.
“Today, we mourn the passing of a defender of the First Amendment and an attorney who stood for the highest ethics and conduct from his colleagues and elected officials,” City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo said. “Tony was passionate in debates about election and ethics law, and loved every minute of his nearly 30 years working as a city attorney. His work inspired a generation of ethics reform.”
Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski said Alperin helped “shepherd” others in City Hall to the same high ethical and legal standards to which he held himself.
“He held forth his positions and legal opinions in the greatest of Socratic traditions both provoking and inviting challenges in the best pursuit of legal inquiry,” Miscikowski said.
Claudia Culling, managing assistant of the Government Counsel Division, called Alperin a “special friend” to her and many others who knew him.
“He was an extraordinary lawyeróthinker, writer, advocate and advisor,” Culling said. “His friendship and expertise will be sorely missed.”
Alperin was born in New York City on Nov. 12, 1946. He graduated from Hamilton High School in Los Angeles and from U.C. Berkeley, and earned his law degree from UCLA in 1971 while serving as a legislative assistant to then-Assemblyman Henry A. Waxman. He also interned during law school at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
He joined the City Attorney’s Office in 1974 and became deputy in charge of the Election Compliance Section the following year.
In 1978 he moved to the Land Use Division, where he remained for more than 20 years. He joined the General Counsel Division in 1999 and was named assistant-in-charge of Ethics and Elections.
Alperin was a member of Congregation Lubavitch of South Beverly Hills.
He is survived by his wife, Marsha, his son, Adam, and his daughter, Sara.
Information on services was unavailable at press time.
Copyright 2003, Metropolitan News Company