John A. Russo

In 2018, the Irvine City Council voted unanimously to name Russo as the city manager for Irvine, California. In 2019, Russo was included on The Orange County Register list of 100 Top Influencers

In 2015, Russo was named the city manager of Riverside, California. He served in that position for nearly three years, establishing practices of reform and accountability and increasing projects in arts and culture, including initiating the deal to bring the Cheech Marin Center for Art, Culture, and Industry to Riverside. According to the Press Enterprise, "Russo, who has served as City Manager since 2015, has been behind initiatives like the Sunshine Ordinance to improve transparency in city government, a more robust budget process and a rotating system of audits of all city departments."

In 2011 Russo was named the city manager for neighboring Alameda, California.

In 2007, during his second term as city attorney, Russo ran unsuccessfully for the California Assembly 16th District seat in 2006. In June 2008, Russo was re-elected to a third term as city attorney, running unopposed.

In 2007, Russo was caught in a law enforcement campaign to catch seat belt scofflaws. Russo was ticketed and the incident ended up in the local media.

In 2006, the National League of Cities named Oakland as one of nine winners of its 2006 Award for Municipal Excellence, and one of three Gold award winners honoring the work of the Neighborhood Law Corps. In 2005 the program won the Grand Prize, Helen Putnam Award for Excellence from the National League of Cities.

In August 2005, John Russo was voted a Northern California Super Lawyer by his peers and the independent research of the Law & Politics Magazine.

The plaintiffs were invited to post different fliers without discriminatory language, but instead they elected to sue the city over violation of their free speech rights. The case went to court, and the bulk of the case was dismissed in March 2004, while the free speech issues were dismissed in July 2005.

In a San Francisco Chronicle interview, Russo acknowledged that he wasn't wearing his seat belt when he was pulled over by officers at about 5:30 p.m. on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland. He said he had been distracted as he left the popular Fentons Creamery with his twin 8-year-old sons in the back seat of his 2004 Honda Civic hybrid.

In 2004, the League of California Cities gave John Russo the Champion of Local Democracy Award for his work to strengthen democracy at the local level. In addition, the California Minority Counsel Program (CMCP) awarded the Office of the City Attorney the John Essex and Guy Rounsaville In-House Diversity Counsel Award for demonstrating superior commitment to diversity; it was the first time a public agency had received the honor in the thirteen-year history of the program.

In 2003, Russo's office negotiated the largest legal settlement in Oakland municipal history. Plaintiffs who claimed they were victimized by a group of rogue cops known as "the Riders" shared $10.5 million in damages. The settlement brought major changes to police department operations and dealings with the public. The case riveted the city as it was the largest case of police misconduct in Oakland in decades. Despite the settlement's hefty price tag, Russo said the cases could have cost the city tens of millions of dollars more had they gone to trial, pointing out that the victims had spent more than 25 years, combined, imprisoned on false charges. By comparison, Los Angeles spent $40 million to settle litigation stemming from the Rampart corruption scandal.

In 2003, California Lawyer Magazine named John Russo as Attorney of the Year for Government/Public Policy. The eighth annual CLAY (California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year) Awards for 2003 recognized City Attorney Russo for his advocacy and innovation in public law while saving taxpayer money.

There are some achievements made by California lawyers that have such far-reaching impact that they cannot go unrecognized," said the magazine's editors. "The lawyers selected as Attorneys of the Year for 2003 substantially influenced public policy or a particular industry, brought about a significant development in their field of practice or in law-firm management, or achieved a notable victory for a client or for the public in a difficult, high-stakes matter."

In the fall of 2003, John Russo received the California First Amendment Coalition's Beacon Award for leadership in promoting public access to government and going "beyond the norm to assure government transparency."

Russo served as the president of the League of California Cities from 2002–03, serving a total of nine years on the board.

In 2002, John served as president of the League of California Cities spearheading initiatives to protect local tax revenues from state fiscal mismanagement and amend California's Constitution to ensure public access to government records and decision-making. His ability to work 'across the aisle' earned him a seat on the Board of the National League of Cities, an organization which represents more than 18,000 towns and cities, in December 2003.

In 2002, two city of Oakland employees had posted fliers in the workplace advertising the "Good News Employee Association," a group created to promote "natural family, marriage, and family values." The flier also said, "We believe the natural family is defined as a man and a woman, their children by birth or adoption, or the surviving remnant thereof."

The fliers were posted in response to a celebratory message sent from openly gay former City Council member Danny Wan to city staff on National Coming Out Day in 2002.

In 2001, Russo founded the Neighborhood Law Corps, an organization to help address chronic urban problems. Law Corps attorneys, generally new law school graduates, focus on quality-of-life issues and tackle cases involving drug dealing and building-code violations. The Law Corps also led Oakland's crackdown on liquor stores considered a blight on the community because they were providing a haven for drug dealing and other nuisances. In 2006, the National League of Cities named Oakland as one of nine winners of its 2006 award for municipal excellence, and one of three Gold award winners honoring the work of the Neighborhood Law Corps.

The payout went to 119 plaintiffs who filed federal civil rights lawsuits claiming four police officers kidnapped, beat and planted drugs on them during the summer of 2000. The plaintiffs alleged that the Oakland Police Department either encouraged or turned a blind eye to the abuse. U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson approved the settlement in the civil cases after 18 months of negotiations.

Russo was a member of the Oakland City Council from 1994–2000, where he served as finance committee chair and became a leading advocate for fiscal accountability and government reform. In September 2000, he became the first elected city attorney of Oakland, California after a little-debated aspect of Jerry Brown's strong-mayor initiative, Measure X, changed the city attorney post from an appointed to an elected one.

In June 1994, John was elected to the Oakland City Council, where he became the council's leading advocate for fiscal accountability and government reform. In his six years on the council, John implemented community policing, developed the first balanced budget in a generation, and working closely with the League of Woman Voters, authored Oakland's open government law called the "sunshine" ordinance.

After a two-year stint as a Legal Aid attorney in St. Louis, Missouri, Russo moved to Oakland in 1987. He served as president of Friends of Oakland Parks and Recreation, treasurer of the East Bay League of Conservation Voters, and pro bono attorney to several neighborhood associations and non-profits.

John A. Russo (born February 6, 1959) is a former American politician, city attorney, and city manager with municipal management experience in four cities in the state of California.

John Russo was born and raised in the Italian immigrant Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn, New York. His father, a construction worker and union vice president, and his mother, a dressmaker, moved to the United States from London in 1958 five months before he was born. Russo attended Xaverian High School in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, NY. He graduated with honors in economics and political science from Yale University and earned his law degree from New York University School of Law.