Overview
Candice is a city attorney with over 20 years of experience advising public agencies on sophisticated land use and planning issues and all aspects of municipal law such as the Brown Act, the Public Records Act, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), constitutional law, conflicts of interest and stormwater regulation.
Candice is proud of her longstanding relationships with her city clients, many spanning from the beginning of her legal career. She focuses on developing practical advice and solutions for her city clients and delivering clearly written advice.
Work for Clients
Candice serves as City Attorney for the Cities of Agoura Hills and Covina. She previously served as Assistant City Attorney and Planning Commission Counsel for the Cities of Agoura Hills, Artesia, and Temecula.
Candice’s legal practice includes:
- Advising cities on general plans and specific plans, complex commercial developments, mixed-use developments, and downtown revitalization plans.
- Advising over two dozen cities on environmental compliance matters relating to the Clean Water Act, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act and NPDES stormwater permit issues. This includes preparing and negotiating multi-agency cooperative agreements relating to stormwater permit compliance issues and preparing petitions for review before the State Water Resources Control Board relating to stormwater permits.
- Working closely with city planners and environmental consultants to ensure that an Environmental Impact Report, Mitigated Negative Declaration, or Negative Declaration and related approvals for a project are consistent with CEQA.
- Drafting and negotiating municipal contracts, such as professional services agreements, development agreements, settlement agreements, public works contracts and franchise agreements for natural gas, oil and water.
- Preparing ordinances and resolutions on many subjects, including zoning, stormwater quality, water and gas franchises, public works projects, purchasing procedures, development impact fees (including compliance with AB 1600) and various other user and recovery fees.
Professional Experience
Candice was a summer associate at RWG in 2002, and joined the firm as an associate in 2003. Candice also served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Harry Pregerson of the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit in 2001.
Honors & Awards
Honoree, First 100 Asian Pacific American Women Law Firm Partners in Los Angeles
Senior Notes and Comments Editor, U.C. Davis Law Review
Professional and Community Affiliations
Member, League of California Cities Environmental Quality Policy Committee (2024)
Member, League of California Cities City Attorneys Department Nominating Committee (2022)
Member, City Attorneys Association of Los Angeles County
Member, Los Angeles County Bar Association
Experience
Candice advises cities on complex land use transactions and capital improvement projects. Major notable projects include:
- Negotiating a development agreement and advising on land use and CEQA issues for a multi-party, public-private partnership based mixed use project with residential, commercial and public transit components.
- Advising on legal issues relating to the development, construction, operation and management of a new, state-of-the-art city recreation and event center.
- Advising on land use and environmental issues for a large luxury automobile dealership project.
- Advising on land use and environmental issues for a new regional hospital.
- Advising on the development of a new form-based Downtown Specific Plan.
News
Presentations
Candice has given numerous presentations and trainings to public officials on local government fundamentals such as the Brown Act, the Public Records Act, land use planning and zoning, City Council and Planning Commission meeting management, and AB 1234 (ethics training).
Publications
EDITORIAL POSITIONS
- League of California Cities Publications
- Former Contributing Editor and Reviewer, California Municipal Law Handbook
Practice Areas
Focus Areas
Education
J.D., University of California, Davis, School of Law
B.A., summa cum laude, University of California, Los Angeles
