Vernon City Attorney Michael Montgomery Resigns Again; This Time He Means It

Michael Montgomery: When you wake up, clean out your desk

​Vernon City Attorney Michael Montgomery resigned on Monday. But he made it known that he intended to hang around City Hall doing some work for the redevelopment agency and the municipal utility.

Well, so much for that.

In a second resignation letter today (posted below), Montgomery "clarified" that he actually meant to resign from everything.

So, sadly, this may be the last time we get to run this photo of him sleeping at work.

Montgomery was making $20,000 per month as Vernon's interim city attorney. The council voted two weeks ago to take the "interim" out of his title, which drew criticism because that wasn't on the agenda. When the council tried to figure out whether that was legal, it was Montgomery himself who assured them that it was.

This morning, the council voted 3-0 to rescind his appointment, and to hire a search firm to find a new permanent city attorney. But City Administrator Mark Whitworth said that Montgomery was still working as executive counsel to the redevelopment agency.

But in his second resignation letter, Montgomery "clarified" that he was also resigning from "any and all boards and commissions and other legal services on behalf of Vernon." Sounds fairly absolute. He also said he would clean out his office "in an orderly fashion."

Montgomery does have a bit of a checkered history, so maybe this is all for the best. (He did not return a call seeking comment.)

Vernon Mayor Hilario Gonzales also resigned on Monday, so Vernon has now received three resignations from two people in two days.
Montgomery Resignation Extension