California Municipal Law Blog
by Derek P. Cole on February 23, 2015
posted in
Administrative Regulations, Ethics,
The Fair Political Practices Commission (“FPPC”) has recently adopted a new regulation governing when public officials have conflicts of interests in businesses they own or for which they are investors. The amended regulation, which became effect in January 2015, is part of a broader FPPC program to streamline and simplify the regulations that implement the Political Reform Act of 1974, California’s principal law governing the ethics of public officials. The recent amendment concerning business-based conflicts follows changes the FPPC made in 2014 to the regulation governing conflicts for ... Continue Reading
tags:
Business Interests, conflicts of interest, Regulations,
by William R. Galstan on February 12, 2015
posted in
Zoning,
It’s common knowledge that an elected official who has an economic interest in a matter coming before the agency cannot participate in the decision. But how about an official who has such strong feelings about the application that it seems his or her mind was made up prior to the hearing?
In a recent case, Woody’s Group v. City of Newport Beach, the state Court of Appeal underscored existing law by stating that officials must at least give the impression that they are open-minded about the outcome of applications coming before them.
A restaurant and bar had filed an application with the ... Continue Reading
tags:
Appeals, Bias, Due Process,
by William R. Galstan on February 4, 2015
posted in
Propositions 13/26/218, Public Utilities,
Under a court ruling issued in January of this year, cities must be careful when transferring money from utility accounts into the general fund.
The City of Redding owns an electrical utility. Because it is publicly owned, it is exempt from the one percent ad valorem tax imposed on privately-owned California utilities. The City requires the utility department to pay the city’s general fund a one percent “Payment In Lieu Of Taxes,” or “PILOT” fee, for the city’s general use.
In Citizens for Fair REU Rates v. City of Redding, the state Court of Appeal held that the PILOT ... Continue Reading
tags:
General Fund, PILOT Fee, Proposition 26,
by Derek P. Cole on February 1, 2015
posted in
Emergency Medical Services,
The Attorney General has recently issued an opinion covering questions that counties and cities have expressed concerning “Section 201” of the Emergency Medical Services (“EMS”) Act. The opinion addresses some ambiguities in the administration of Health & Safety Code section 1797.201 (known as “Section 201”) concerning “grandfathered” city and fire-district EMS providers.
... Continue Reading
tags:
EMS Act, Grandfathered EMS Providers, Local EMS Agencies, Section 201,
by William R. Galstan on January 27, 2015
posted in
Ethics, Zoning,
The Fair Political Practices Commission (“FPPC”) has adopted new rules to determine whether a public official has a conflict of interest when his or her real property interest is located near to a land use application.
Under the old rules, if any part of an official’s real property (or interest in real property with a fair market value of $2,000.00 or more) was located within 500 feet of the property lines of a land use application, the official was considered to have a conflict of interest because it was assumed that there would be a material financial effect (whether positive or negative) ... Continue Reading
tags:
conflicts of interest, FPPC, Land Use Applications,
