Tracey Arpen is the City’s deputy general counsel. He spoke at the Federal Bar Association meeting Tuesday at the Omni about post-2000 election litigation.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN THE DEPUTY AND WHAT DO YOU DO?
“Three years. I’m the head of the office’s Legislative Affairs and Land Use Department, which involves representation of City Council on all their matters as well as anything pertaining to land use and environmental law. About 60 percent of what the City Council takes up is land use related through rezoning, comprehensive plan changes, appeals of exceptions to variances and things such as that.”
HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED FOR THE CITY?
“I’ve been in this office for almost 10 years. I was working in the General Litigation Department. Just before I became deputy, I was chief of the General Litigation Division, which is responsible for defending the City in litigation regarding labor and employment, procurement and land use — all litigation other than personal injury and workers compensation.”
WHAT LAWSUITS ARE
MOST COMMON?
“In our department, most of the litigation, on the environmental side, is brought by the City against individuals who have violated City ordinances or rules on air pollution, water pollution or noise. On the land use side, it’s a mixture of us bringing litigation to enforce the City’s zoning laws and occasionally representing the City in land use litigation filed by either somebody challenging an ordinance or challenging the City’s action with respect to a zoning variance or exception. We have also been involved in litigation arising out of the November 2000 election.”
WHAT’S GOING ON CURRENTLY WITH ELECTION LITIGATION?
“There were a couple of cases filed, one by the NAACP, a class action against the State of Florida and seven counties, including Duval. It was scheduled to be in trial right now but it was removed from the calendar. That case is now settled to all the defendants. Our office represents the Supervisor of Elections, and because they were sued, we represented them.”
WHERE DO WE STAND REGARDING ELECTION REFORM?
“I think it would be hard for us to find any other state that has done more to reform its electoral system in the last two years than Florida has, which isn’t surprising considering the last election. Also, I think Duval County has been in the forefront of electoral reform because shortly after that, the mayor and City Council appointed an election reform task force, which was broad-based and chaired by Preston Haskell. They decertified punch card voting so if you go to vote, the chads are gone. They also adopted a provisional ballot system so if you were in the right precinct but not on the roster, you can cast a provisional ballot, which is set aside until your eligibility could be ascertained.”
WHERE ELSE HAVE YOU PRACTICED LAW?
For 13 years, Arpen was a shareholder with Marks Gray. He practiced mainly insurance defense and commercial law. For a change of scenery, Arpen served as an attorney in the U.S. Army in Washington, D.C. and Germany before coming back home. “After six years, I decided Jacksonville wasn’t so bad.”
WHY LEAVE FOR THE PUBLIC SECTOR?
“It was a chance to practice full-time in the areas I enjoy most — land use and environmental law. In some aspects, it’s an area of law where you can have lasting impact. These type of laws determine what the City looks like for years to come just on things like enforcement of the zoning code, application and enforcement of fine regulation, tree protection regulation.”
HOMETOWN
Jacksonville.
FAMILY
Mandarin is home to Arpen and his wife Sandy. They have two children, Matt and Kate.
EDUCATION
University of Florida.
WHY GO TO LAW SCHOOL?
“The joke I give is that there was no math on the LSAT and there was on the GRE, which is somewhat true because I’m not naturally inclined to mathematical and scientific fields. It’s a profession I always respected and one that I could find an area of the law I thought I would be interested in.”
WHAT CHALLENGES DO YOU FACE?
“Probably the problems that every lawyer faces of trying to handle the demands of meetings, cases and deadlines.”
CIVIC PARTICIPATION?
Arpen is on the board of Lutheran Social Services and is an active member at Mandarin Lutheran Church.
WHO’S YOUR HERO
AND WHY?
“Robert Kennedy. He may have been the last politician that could have united this country — black and white, rich and poor. I was impressed with his capacity for growth; the way he evolved and matured on many issues throughout his lifetime.”
— by Monica Chamness