Longtime Macon city attorney Langstaff returning to private practice

Macon City Attorney Pope Langstaff waited until his penultimate day on the job before beginning to clear out his top-floor office at City Hall. Thursday he still hadn’t taken down pictures from the walls, and he was further delayed by an unofficial but important issue -- looking for his mislaid wallet.

Langstaff officially retires April 29, but he has three weeks of vacation to use, he said. Friday was his last real day on the job.

The unexpected distraction was a fitting conclusion to his 13 years as city attorney: He describes the job as a constant stream of interruptions, questions and surprises, so that workdays hardly ever unfold as planned.

Before he makes any more binding decisions, Langstaff plans to step back and clear his mind with a long hike on the Appalachian Trail. After all, as city attorney he’s often worn hiking shoes along with his requisite business suit. He’s hiked the famous trail for a week-and-a half before and said he wants to walk “as much of the trail as (he) can stand.” Then, eventually, Langstaff plans to go into private legal practice, he said.

His last week brought a flurry of work, as elected officials seemed to fear their ordinances and resolutions wouldn’t get done if he didn’t draft them before he left, Langstaff said. He was glad to get a lot done, especially some issues that had been on the back burner for a while, he said.

The last-minute rush was understandable, Macon Mayor Robert Reichert said. He’s sure Langstaff’s presence will be missed.

“I would say that he has done an admirable job as city attorney, and we are going to very much, very much miss him and his institutional knowledge,” the mayor said. “He has great command of a lot of facts of what’s happened in the past.”

That knowledge of previous decisions, including what hasn’t worked, has been valuable, Reichert said.

The job did take some getting used to, Langstaff admits. The “dumbest thing” he’s done, he said, came in his second meeting as city attorney, when he was unfamiliar with Robert’s Rules of Order. They’re not taught in law school, and he didn’t have a copy. Then, Councilman Henry Ficklin asked him a procedural question.

“I said, ‘I don’t know, I’m not the parliamentarian.’ ” Langstaff said. “Of course, I am.”

As he began to clear out his office Thursday, he packed away a paperback Robert’s Rules with “City Attorney” scrawled on the cover in black marker.

City Councilman Charles Jones’ term in office has closely matched Langstaff’s tenure at the attorney’s office. Jones said he admires Langstaff’s accessibility and impartiality.

“One thing I’d like to say about Pope is that he probably has the greatest temperament and patience in dealing with very complex situations and people that I’ve seen so far,” he said.

Jones said his only conflict with Langstaff wasn’t really a disagreement. It just wasn’t easy to work out legal language to cover what Jones wanted to say in a resolution.

He said he knows the city attorney has a very stressful job, working for both the mayor and the City Council.

“I’m glad about one thing: He really didn’t let nobody push him around. He just stood by the law,” Jones said.

Langstaff said his statements before the council often appear to favor the mayor, but that’s because most council consultations are done in public, while legal talks with the mayor are usually private. The council would be gratified to hear how often the mayor hears “You can’t do that,” or “You have to go before council,” he said.

From that unique perspective, city government looks better than it often appears to outsiders, Langstaff said. Open meetings make officials very good at public self-criticism, which keeps them honest, but makes government look more riven and chaotic than it is, he said.

As city attorney, Langstaff has officially reported to both sides of City Hall, which are often at odds. That’s been a tricky task, and his legal opinions drew criticism from both sides on some issues, he said.

“It’s hard to remember this, but it’s not really personal,” Langstaff said. “I feel very privileged to have been here as long as I have.”

Langstaff has been a lawyer for 27 years, and exactly half of that has been spent as city attorney in Macon. In that time, he’s watched three mayors, eight or nine chief administrative officers, and more than 30 council members come and go, he said.

“Literally, this is twice as long as I’ve worked anywhere else,” Langstaff said.

Langstaff, now 55, said he’s been thinking of leaving to go into private practice for a while. Tough as it is to set up a new office, he doesn’t want to put it off any longer, he said.

“It’s been a good job, very challenging,” Langstaff said. “I’m going to miss it, but it’s definitely time.”

Before arriving in Macon, he worked for several large law firms and the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C., as an investigative and regulatory attorney, he said.

“I interviewed Mike Milken in jail many, many years ago. That was interesting,” Langstaff said. Milken was a major figure in Wall Street scandals of the late 1980s and spent two years in prison for financial and reporting violations.

His Washington work was very abstract, and Langstaff started looking at city attorney jobs advertised in the Washington Post. He decided to try concrete, hands-on work for a while.

“I think city governments are kind of where the rubber meets the road,” Langstaff said. “It’s the most immediate form of government.”

In previous jobs he might work on the same task for several days at a time, then move on to something else. But the city attorney’s office is the antithesis of that style of work, Langstaff said.

“I don’t think anybody realizes how much stuff moves through here,” he said.

Reichert said there’s been no decision on whether to appoint an interim city attorney, or whom might be chosen among the four other lawyers in the department.

“We’re trying to work out something that works for everyone,” he said.

To contact writer Jim Gaines, call 744-4489.

This story was originally published April 11, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Longtime Macon city attorney Langstaff returning to private practice."