About the City Attorney's Office
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EmailAriel Pierre Calonne
Ariel has served as Ventura's city attorney since August 2007. Ariel first worked for the city in 1986-1988 as a deputy and assistant city attorney. Ariel is a native Angeleno and a graduate of Thousand Oaks High School. He received his law degree at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco and his undergraduate degree in biology from the University of California at Riverside. Before coming back to Ventura in 2007, Ariel spent 4 years as the city attorney of Boulder, Colorado and 13 years as the city attorney of Palo Alto, California.
Ariel served as President of the City Attorneys Department of the League of California Cities in 1998-1999 and was named Public Lawyer of the Year in 2003 by the Public Law Section of the State Bar of California. In 2006, the Colorado Metro City Attorneys Association honored him with its Outstanding City Attorney award.
Ariel has been active on public records, privacy, First Amendment and open meetings law. In June 2006, he presented First Amendment Jeopardy! - A City Attorney's Guide to Key First Amendment Issues to the Colorado Municipal League. In October 2005, he moderated a debate on RLUIPA at the Cities on the Cutting Edge conference sponsored by the Hastings Center for State and Local Government Law in San Francisco. He has presented to the Conference on Computers, Freedom & Privacy, the California Newspaper Publishers Association, the California First Amendment Coalition, the Colorado Municipal League and the League of California Cities. Ariel has appeared on the San Francisco NPR affiliate KQED, CNN, and The California Channel.
Ariel has authored numerous articles and amicus curiae briefs on public records, governmental immunity, and open government issues, including the League of California Cities brief in the California Supreme Court open meetings law case, Roberts v. City of Palmdale.
Ariel was the founding chairperson of the League of California Cities' Public Records Act Committee and served from 1994 until January 1998. He was a member of the advisory committee to the Joint Senate-Assembly Task Force on Personal Information and Privacy chaired by California State Senator Steve Peace. In 1996 and 1997, Ariel participated on the Electronic Access to Public Records Task Force formed under the Senate Select Committee on Information Services in State Government.
Before going to Palo Alto, Ariel was with the Los Angeles law firm of Richards, Watson & Gershon where he served as city attorney for the City of Rancho Palos Verdes, and assistant city attorney for Palmdale and Westlake Village. Ariel began his career as a summer law clerk and associate with Best, Best & Krieger in Riverside, California.
Andy H. Viets
Andy H. Viets, a twenty year resident of Ventura County, graduated from Hofstra University in New York with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1982 and from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law in 1985. He started practicing law in Ventura in January, 1987, first as a workers’ compensation defense attorney and soon thereafter in the field of civil litigation, which included defending various public entities in civil lawsuits.
After many years practicing with a firm in Ventura, he opened his own office in 2006, specializing in civil litigation, which included representing public entities. He joined Norman Dowler, LLP, in Ventura in April, 2007, where his practice continued to focus on civil litigation and he served as the head of the firm’s litigation department. He is also a professor at the Ventura College of Law; he initially taught Civil Trial Practice and now teaches Evidence.
Mr. Viets serves as a Judge Pro Tem and Arbitrator for the Ventura County Superior Court, and as a Fee Dispute Arbitrator for the Ventura County Bar Association. He has made presentations to various local legal organizations on various topics involving civil litigation.
He is a member of the Ventura County Bar Association (including serving on the Board of its Business Litigation Section), the Ventura County Trial Lawyers Association (from which he received a nomination for 2006 Trial Lawyer of the Year) and the American Inns of Court.
M. Rebeca Mendoza
M. Rebeca Mendoza joined the City of Ventura as Assistant City Attorney in May 2006. She advises both the Finance/Technology and the Fire Departments on contracts, and handles code compliance matters for all departments, including criminal code enforcement cases for the Police Department. She also works with several departments on franchise ordinances and related concerns, advises the Design Review Committee, and handles public records and subpoena requests.
Rebeca arrived in Ventura with 30 years of diverse legal experience. A graduate of the University of Kansas School of Law, she previously served as Deputy Attorney General for the State of California's Department of Justice, where her primary duty was to litigate employment discrimination cases. Rebeca also worked as Assistant General Counsel for the San Francisco Housing Authority, and for almost nine years as Deputy City Attorney in Oakland, where she handled various litigation matters for the City of Oakland and the Oakland Housing Authority. In addition, as a Deputy Public Defender for Alameda County, she gained valuable criminal law experience. Rebeca and her husband, Roberto Vargas, have two grown daughters, Andrea and Ixchel.
Susan Marquez
Susan Marquez began working for the City Attorney's office in 1999. During her tenure with the City Attorney's Office, Susan has been in charge of administration and management. Susan earned a certificate in the City of Ventura's Customer Service Program. She spent her previous 15 years working for various private law practices in Ventura and Los Angeles counties specializing in civil litigation. Susan has been an active member of the Ventura County Legal Secretaries Association holding various posts. She attended the University of California, Santa Barbara and received her Paralegal Certificate.
Susan and her husband Santos have two children, Anthony and Andrea. They enjoy living in the beautiful City of Ventura.
Angela Stephens
Angela Stephens started work as an Administrative Legal Secretary with the City Attorney's Office in January 2007. Prior to this, she worked for over 20 years in private law firms focusing on civil litigation. Angela has been an active member of the Ventura County Legal Secretaries Association.
Angela and her husband Doug have three grown children and five grandchildren.