Mesquite Appoints New City Attorney

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

Nearly ten months to the day after the Mesquite City Council voted to terminate its contract with its previous City Attorney, the position was permanently filled last week in a meeting held Oct. 12.

Bryan Pack was sworn in as Mesquite City Attorney during a brief ceremony held during last week’s council meeting. He started in the position on Monday morning this week.

Just before that, Mesquite Mayor Al Litman nominated Pack for the position and presented him to the Council for consideration. Then he opened the floor for a motion.
“I was on the interview committee and we had some really great candidates,” commented City Council member Wes Boger. “I am proud to make the motion to approve Mr. Pack to be our city attorney.”
The motion was approved with a unanimous vote of the council.

“I am excited to receive this appointment,” Pack said in an interview with The Progress. “It is a great opportunity for me. I am looking forward to the issues that Mesquite deals with and I couldn’t be happier with it.”

Pack and his family live in Ivins, Utah where they have resided for 15 years now. He has served on the Ivins Planning Commission for several years. He has also served as Assistant City Attorney for St. George Utah for the past three years.

Though his appointment took place near the beginning of last week’s City Council meeting, Pack stayed throughout the entirety of the meeting and listened to the entirety of a lively discussion over proposed Master Plan document changes in Sun City. He said that he was pleased to see that the people of Mesquite are engaged in civic affairs.

“I enjoyed the meeting and I thought it was nice to see the passion that people have,” Pack said. “I think that kind of passion for one’s community is shared everywhere. It is certainly not any different than what I’ve seen in St. George. And I’ve seen it while serving on the Planning Commission in Ivins as well. I didn’t see anything last night that was unusual with my experience in city governments.”

Before taking the St. George position, Pack worked in a private practice in St. George. Between 2005 and 2013, he worked for the law office of Barney, McKenna with a branch office in Mesquite. During that time, Pack often had occasion to assist clients in Mesquite, he said.

Pack grew up in the Bay Area of California. He attended college and law school at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

In taking the Mesquite position, Pack steps into a full-time, in-house position as an employee of the city.
“I will be full time in the City Hall office,” Pack said. “I will be commuting down every day and I don’t anticipate that being any type of an issue whatsoever.”

Pack, who is 45 years old, said that he anticipates this position to be the one he sticks with for the remainder of his career.
“I intend to retire from this at some point in the future, and I don’t see it as a way-stop on a career,” Pack said. “I really am looking forward to everything it brings.”

Pack will take over the position from Interim City Attorney Adam Anderson who has served on a temporary basis since the end of last year. Anderson stepped in to serve after the City Council terminated its contract “without cause” with former City Attorney Bob Sweetin on Dec. 8, 2020.