Justia California Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

SCOPE filed suit claiming that the acquisition of the Valenica Water Company by the Castaic Lake Water Agency was void under Government Code section 1090 and the Political Reform Act (PRA), Gov. Code 81000 et seq., because one of the Agency's ten directors - Keith Abercrombie- was Valencia's general manager at the time the acquisition was be negotiated. The trial court rejected SCOPE's conflict of interest claims. The court affirmed the trial court's decision, concluding that the express exception to section 1090 in the Agency’s enabling legislation applies to a contract to acquire a water company; the express exception to section 1090 also implicitly repeals (and thereby amends) the PRA’s applicability to such an acquisition; and the Legislature complied with the special requirements set forth in section 81012 for amending the PRA, which was originally enacted by voter initiative. View "Santa Clarita Org. v. Abercrombie" on Justia Law