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LEAGUE BUSY ON LEGAL ADVOCACY FRONT Acting swiftly after the board's approval of these efforts, the League has recently weighed in on three appellate court cases of interest to cities. Federal Funding versus State Law Compliance In one case, the League joined the City of San Francisco in arguing that cities should not be forced to choose between federal funding and complying with state law —particularly when the state law specifically says local agencies should not have to make that choice. The issue arose in United Utilities v. Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD), No. C040761 (3d Dist.). The issue in the case is whether SMUD's Minority Business Enterprise ( "MBE ") Program violates the provisions of Proposition 209, which, with certain exceptions, restricted such programs. One such exception is when MBE programs are required by federal funding. The trial court had rejected SMUD's arguments that its program fell into Proposition 209's federal funding exception because a federal agency had not yet started to terminate SMUD's funding. The court held this even though a Department of Justice letter presented to the court said that SMUD could lose its federal funding if SMUD abandoned the MBE program. The case is now before the court of appeal. the department head of the employee, who was involved in the investigation, may preside as the hearing officer. The court of appeal concluded that at least in a Skelly hearing involving the employee's termination, it is appropriate for a department head to be the Skelly hearing officer. Further, the case stands for the principle that a public safety employee may properly be disci- plined for off -duty conduct. The League believes that a published opinion of this case will give cities more flexibility in making decision about employee termination and the Skelly hearing process. The League thanks Art Hartinger of Meyers, Nave, Riback, Silver & Wilson for writing the friend -of- the -court letter to the court of appeal requesting publication of this opinion. The request is pending. Local Control and Charter Authority In a case regarding the preservation of home rule and local control, the League recently re- quested permission to join a friend -of- the -court brief filed by the California State Association of Counties to the court of appeal. This case in- volves the validity of a county charter; the League's legal advocacy committee was con- cerned the case could set a precedent relating to city charters. The League thanks Teresa Stricker, Deputy City Attorney with the San Francisco, City Attorney's Office for writing the friend -of- the -court brief for the League to the court of appeal. Employee Relations The League continues to argue for local control to the courts in all areas, including the employment context. The League recently filed a friend -of- the -court letter with a court of appeal requesting that the court publish its opinion in an employment case favorable to public agencies, Paloma v. City of Newark, No. A098022 (1 st Dist. Jan. 10, 2003). This case involves the "Skelly" hearing pro- cess, which is the hearing process that perma- nent public employees are entitled to before their public employer imposes discipline on the em- ployee. The specific issue in this case is whether Known in some circles as a "thumbnail charter," the county charter in this case only has two provisions. One provision provides that the general law applies to the county except where the charter provides otherwise. The second provides that any vacancies on the board of supervisors will be put to a vote of the people in the district of the vacancy, rather than by appointment of the governor. The trial court found that such a short charter did not meet the constitution's requirements. The issue is currently pending before the court of appeal. The name of the case is County of Orange v. Superior Court (Kerr), No. G031750 (4th Dist.). Ruth Sorensen, the Executive Director of the County Counsels Association, wrote the friend -of- the -court brief to the court of appeal urging the court to respect local voters exercise of local home rule over county affairs. PAGE 4 1PRIORITY FOCUS Visit the que's Official Web Site-- www.cacities.org