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The dawn of spring also signals the commencement of legislative policy committees, which will be hearing the more than 2,000 bills introduced in 2022. They have between now and April 29 to hear and report to fiscal committees any legislation with a fiscal impact. CSDA will be there on behalf of special districts and the communities they serve. Opposition Growing Against Initiative to Limit Revenues for Government Services A growing list of local agencies are adopting resolutions in opposition to Initiative #21-0042A1 entitled, “Limits Ability of Voters and State and Local Governments to Raise Revenues for Government Services. Constitutional Amendment.” CSDA’s Board of Directors adopted an oppose position at its January 2022 meeting. Other statewide organizations in opposition to the proposal include the League of California Cities, California Professional Firefighters, California Alliance for Jobs, SEIU California, and AFSCME California. Initiative #21-0042 is sponsored by the California Business Roundtable, which is seeking to qualify the measure for the November 2022 statewide ballot. Among myriad other provisions, the initiative would limit the fees local agencies may charge from an amount that is reasonably related to the cost of service to the “minimum amount necessary” to deliver the service. The initiative also seeks to impose a higher legal standard on public agencies related to the evidence they must provide to substantiate a fee or charge, from 'a preponderance of the evidence' to 'clear and convincing evidence. These changes alone would invite frivolous lawsuits that will jeopardize vital services, cost taxpayers, and hurt our communities. Special districts can learn more and download a sample resolution and press release at csda.net/take-action.
CSDA Urges Supreme Court to Depublish Decision Affecting Large Public Records Act Requests On February 10, CSDA submitted a letter to the California Supreme Court requesting depublication of the Third District Court of Appeal opinion in Getz v. Superior Court of El Dorado County (C091337). In Getz, the Third District ruled in favor of a public records requester seeking records from the County of El Dorado involving a real estate developer, homeowner’s association, and law firm. Although the records request produced approximately 47,000 potentially responsive records, the appellate court held that the request was not “overbroad or unduly burdensome” because the County did not provide substantial evidence that 32
the records needed to be reviewed first to see if exemptions apply, which the appellate court held it must do before a request could be considered overbroad or unduly burdensome. If left published, this opinion will result in administrative challenges for special districts managing voluminous public records act requests and will make it more difficult to reject or negotiate overbroad or burdensome requests. The CSDA letter, joined by the League of California Cities and California State Association of Counties, argues that the opinion: 1) Mistakes the duty to provide a further response with the improper withholding of disclosable records; 2) Improperly concludes that a failure to provide further response results in the disclosure of records that have not been reviewed for exemptions; 3) Adds requirements for indexes beyond what is required in the law; and 4) Improperly concludes that an agency cannot use administrative burdens to argue a request is unduly burdensome. To read the CSDA letter, visit the Legal Advocacy webpage. CSDA will continue to monitor this case and inform our members if it is depublished. For questions about this case and how it may impact your district, contact CSDA Deputy General Counsel Mustafa Hessabi at mustafah@csda.net.
TAKE ACTION SEASONS OF ADVOCACY: SPRING • ATTEND SPECIAL DISTRICTS LEGISLATIVE DAYS MAY 17-18 IN SACRAMENTO. LEARN MORE AND REGISTER AT LEGISLATIVEDAYS.CSDA.NET. • ENSURE YOUR DISTRICT HAS ADOPTED A POLICY FOR TAKING POSITIONS ON LEGISLATION (DOWNLOAD A SAMPLE POLICY AT CSDA.NET/TAKE-ACTION). • PARTICIPATE IN CSDA CALLS TO ACTION AND SUBMIT LETTERS IN SUPPORT OR OPPOSITION ON SIGNIFICANT BILLS AFFECTING SPECIAL DISTRICTS. California Special Districts • March-April 2022
