Santa Monica is sticking with a familiar face for its top legal job. Heidi von Tongeln, the veteran insider who has been running the City Attorney’s Office on an interim basis since September 2025, is poised to become the next city attorney, with a formal contract approval set for March 24, 2026. It is a hometown promotion at a time when City Hall is staring down serious legal and financial headwinds.
Council moves toward permanent appointment
In a story published March 11, the City Council was reported to have "moved to appoint" von Tongeln and set a March 24 vote to approve her employment contract, according to Westside Current. If the council signs off at that meeting, von Tongeln will officially shed the interim title and step in as Santa Monica’s permanent city attorney.
From deputy to the city’s top lawyer
Von Tongeln joined the Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office in 2012 and worked her way up to chief deputy in 2022, according to the City of Santa Monica. City records also outline her interim employment agreement, which sets the City Attorney's base salary at about $395,392 a year, per the official City of Santa Monica document. Her résumé lists prior deputy-city-attorney posts in three other municipalities and a law degree from Pepperdine University School of Law.
How City Hall is reacting
City leaders wasted little time lining up behind the choice. Mayor Caroline Torosis hailed von Tongeln as "an incredible leader and a proven advisor," while von Tongeln said she was "honored by the opportunity to serve," comments reported by Westside Current. The mutual praise signals a preference for continuity and an insider who already knows the building, the caseload, and the council.
What lands on her desk next
Von Tongeln is stepping up at a time when the legal inbox is overflowing, and the budget is tight. City documents she prepared helped frame the council’s 2025 fiscal-distress discussion and detailed more than $229 million in settlements tied to past abuse claims, pressure points described by the Santa Monica Daily Press. Her office will also continue to wrestle with high-profile policy battles over housing, Pier businesses, short-term rentals, and worker protections that frequently end up on the council agenda or in court.
The March 24 council meeting is the final procedural hurdle before von Tongeln can officially take the permanent title. City officials and close watchers of Santa Monica politics say the weeks ahead will reveal whether the longtime insider can steady the office while defending the city’s legal position on some of its most expensive and contentious fights.
