Mr. Porter currently serves as Assistant City Attorney for the cities of Encinitas, La Verne, and Whittier. He routinely advises at City Council and Planning Commission meetings. Mr. Porter previously served as City Attorney for the City of West Covina and as Interim City Attorney of Palmdale. Mr. Porter has been with Jones Mayer since 2015.
His primary practice areas are municipal law, land use, and telecommunications. Mr. Porter advises elected officials and staff in all areas of municipal law, including general plans, zoning, the Coastal Act, housing, conflicts of interest, local agency formation commissions (LAFCOs), public finance, public contracting, public works, telecommunications, utilities, and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Mr. Porter has advised on the comprehensive rewrite of four general plans, one Coastal Land Use Plan, three development codes, and more than a dozen housing elements. He has advised and negotiated development agreements collectively valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. He has advised multiple cities on ballot measures, land use initiatives, and related litigation.
Mr. Porter has assisted multiple cities on public finance matters, including elections on cannabis taxes, parcel taxes, business license taxes, utility users taxes, transient occupancy taxes, and transactions and use (sales) taxes. Mr. Porter has advised on special assessment proceedings, water and utility rate increases, development impact fees, and fee studies.
Mr. Porter has advised on public contracting procurement, capital improvement programs, and utility operations.
Mr. Porter has provided dozens of trainings on land use, telecommunications, and CEQA. He has also served as a guest lecturer at California State University, Northridge, on state ethics laws and the planning process. Mr. Porter has published three articles in the California Real Estate Reporter relating to real estate and telecommunications. In May 2022, he presented a paper to the League of California Cities on SB 9 (urban lot splits).