Riverside County may have found a replacement for County Counselor Greg Priamos.
Item posted Thursday, July 21, as part of the Board of Trustees Tuesday, July 26, meeting agenda including a four-year contract for Napa County CEO Minh Tran to become Riverside County’s top attorney.
The item is then withdrawn from the agenda. Regional spokeswoman Brooke Federico said by email that the county “will announce the appointment of a new regional adviser” ahead of the Aug. 2 board meeting.
“Until then, there has been no additional information regarding the election,” he added.
The district attorney’s office, which has more than 50 lawyers and a budget of about $7 million, advises councils on legal matters and represents local governments in court. It also handles legal work for agencies such as the Public Guard, which looks after adults who cannot manage their own affairs, and code enforcement.
According to documents pulled from the Napa County agenda and website, Tran, selected after a national search, worked as deputy county counsel in Riverside County for eight years before leaving for Napa County in 2009. There, he served as assistant county counsel, County Counselor. and finally the CEO.
An offer letter to Tran dated June 10 gave him a salary of $285,000, a monthly car allowance of $550, 80 hours of vacation to start with and $10,000 to cover moving costs. As a regional employee, Tran is also entitled to a public pension.
Priamos, who had been a regional adviser since 2014, suddenly retired in March.
His tenure included clashes with a civilian grand jury, one of which accused Priamos in 2015 of interfering in his work. Priamos said the jury misunderstood his own role and strengths.