Losing an advocate

Former Newport Beach City Councilman and prominent attorney Gary Proctor was found dead Sunday afternoon in his San Jose home in an apparent suicide, police said Monday.

Police responded to a residence in the 700 block of Harry Road in San Jose shortly before 3 p.m. Sunday and found Proctor, 63, dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, said Officer Jermaine Thomas of the San Jose Police Department. Police would not release more information on Proctor’s death, Thomas said.

Proctor resigned from his for-profit law firm that represents low-income clients in Santa Clara County dependency court last month after a San Jose newspaper ran a series of investigative stories on the firm’s alleged shortcomings.

Stories in the San Jose Mercury News in February alleged that Proctor’s Santa Clara-county contracted firm, Juvenile Defenders, did not defend its low-income clients aggressively when it cost too much money to investigate cases.

Juvenile Defenders represents parents who face losing custody of their children because of allegations of abuse and neglect. Orange County Superior Court has contracted Proctor’s firm since 1981 to provide representation for low-income clients, Superior Court Spokeswoman Carole Levitzky said Monday.

Former Newport Beach public officials who served with Proctor during his tenure on the Newport Beach City Council remember him as fair and well-informed on local issues.

“He was always a gentleman and always showed the highest level of professionalism,” said former Newport Beach Mayor Steve Bromberg, who ran for City Council with Proctor in 2000. “He always had a sense of fairness around him and he was an advocate for what he believed in.”

Proctor was elected to the council on a platform opposing expansion at John Wayne Airport, and split his time between residences in Newport Beach and San Jose.

Proctor would fly his own plane from San Jose to Newport Beach to attend meetings, Bromberg said. In later years, Proctor suffered from several health problems including a debilitating back injury that forced him to sell his plane, a source of sadness for the former councilman, Bromberg said.

Although Bromberg was a Republican and Proctor a Democrat, Bromberg respected Proctor’s judgment on local issues, he said.

“There were times we disagreed on issues, but he never based his decision on personalities,” Bromberg said. “It was always based on facts and fairness.”

Former Newport Beach City Attorney Bob Burnham remembers Proctor as a passionate and informed advocate for protecting Newport Beach residents from the expansion of John Wayne Airport. The two worked together closely on the airport issue.

“He was a very quick study and a very smart guy,” Burnham said. “He understood issues very quickly and always looked out for the best interests of residents. As a pilot, I found him to be a great resource, and he had a grasp on some difficult legal issues surrounding the airport.”

Proctor stepped down from his 2nd District council seat in 2003. He said at the time that he felt the airport issues he ran for office on were no longer relevant to the city.

Proctor was a well-known and respected attorney in Orange County, said Orange County Superior Court Judge David Thompson, a friend of Proctor’s.

“I got the news on my way to work this morning and couldn’t believe it — I nearly ran off the road,” Thompson said. “He was very well respected — the best. Everyone in Orange County knew who Gary Proctor was.”

There was no further information on Proctor’s survivors or any funeral arrangements.

DIED: Sunday

AGE: 63

OF NOTE: Was elected to the Newport Beach City Council in 2000 and served until 2003. A staunch opponent of expanding John Wayne Airport. Also, served on the Orange County Airport Commission and was a renowned attorney in Orange County.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at [email protected].