City of Santa Cruz v. Super. Ct. of Santa Cruz Cty.

320 Cal.Rptr.3d 270

CITY OF SANTA CRUZ, Petitioner,

v.The SUPERIOR COURT OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Respondent;

County of Santa Cruz, Real Party in Interest.

H050881

Court of Appeal, Sixth District.

Filed April 16, 2024

Trial Court: Santa Cruz County Superior Court Superior Court No.: 22CV01094, Trial Judge: Hon. Marjorie Carter (Santa Cruz County Super. Ct. No. 22CV01094)

Attorneys for Petitioner: City of Santa Cruz: Anthony P. Condotti, City Attorney, Barbara H. Choi, Senior Deputy City Attorney, Alexander C. Geise, Deputy City Attorney, Atchison, Barisone & Condotti, APC

Attorneys for Real Parties in Interest: County of Santa Cruz: Jason M. Heath, County Counsel, Melissa C. Shaw, Assistant County Counsel, Negine Mansour Sewitsky, Assistant County Counsel

Attorneys for Amicus Curiae: League of California Cities: Raymond A. Cardozo, San Francisco, Seam M. Shabbar

BAMATTRE-MANOUKIAN, J.

INTRODUCTION

The issue in this case is whether real party in interest County of Santa Cruz (County) was required to present its claim for money or damages to petitioner City of Santa Cruz (City) before suing the City. The Government Claims Act (Gov. Code, § 810 et seq.)¹ generally requires a party to present a claim for money or damages directly to a public entity before filing a lawsuit. Section 905 of the Government Claims Act "except[s]" certain types of claims from this presentation requirement, including claims brought by a local public entity such as the County. (§ 905, subd. (i).) However, section 935 authorizes a local public entity, such as the City, to adopt a claim presentation ordinance for claims "which are excepted by Section 905" from the claim presentation requirement of the Government Claims Act. (§ 935, subd. (a).) The City adopted a claim presentation ordinance which, according to the language of the ordinance, applies to "[c]laims against the City of Santa Cruz for money or damages which are not governed by California Government Code section 905 …" (Santa Cruz Mun. Code, § 1.14.010, italics added.)

In this case, the County sued the City for money or damages and alleged in the operative complaint that a claim was not required to be presented to the City before the lawsuit was filed. The City demurred on various grounds, including that the complaint was barred because the County failed to plead that it had presented a claim directly to the City pursuant to the City’s claim presentation ordinance (Santa Cruz Mun. Code, § 1.14.010). In sustaining in part and overruling in part the City’s demurrer, the trial court specifically rejected this ground for the demurrer. The court determined that while the ordinance applies to claims that are "not governed by" section 905 (Santa Cruz Mun. Code, § 1.14.010), "[t]he County’s claim against the City … is governed by [section] 905 which provides an exception to the claims presentation requirement for the County’s claim against the City."

The City filed the instant petition for a writ of mandate, seeking to have the trial court vacate its demurrer order and to enter a new order sustaining the demurrer without leave to amend for failure to present a claim to the City. The City argues that the language of its claim presentation ordinance which applies to claims "not governed by" section 905 (Santa Cruz Mun. Code, § 1.14.010) must be interpreted as applying to claims "except[ed]" from section 905 (§ 905) in view of the construction and intent of the ordinance as well as the similar language contained in other cities’ claim presentation ordinances.

For reasons that we will explain, we agree with the City’s interpretation and determine that the City’s ordinance, which applies to "[c]laims … which are not governed by California Government Code section 905," encompasses the claims that section 905 has "except[ed]" from the claim presentation requirement of the Government Claims Act. (Santa Cruz Mun. Code, § 1.14.010, italics added; § 905, subd. (i), italics added.) We therefore conclude that the trial court erred in determining that the County was not required to comply with the claim presentation ordinance before filing its lawsuit against the City. Regarding leave to amend, the County has indicated its intent to seek leave to amend in the trial court to add a cause of action that is not subject to the claim presentation requirement. We will therefore issue a peremptory writ of mandate directing respondent court to vacate its demurrer order, to enter a new order sustaining the demurrer, and to decide in the first instance whether the County should be granted leave to amend.

II. BACKGROUND

A. The County’s First Amended Complaint

The County filed the operative first amended complaint alleging that it incurred more than $1.2 million in costs for emergency repairs to a portion of Capitola Road and the surrounding area, which are located within the jurisdiction of the City. According to the County, the emergency repairs were necessitated by the City’s failure to maintain and manage the area, including the "outfall" from certain drainage pipes, which "severely compromised the structural integrity of a portion of Capitola Road" and caused the road to be at imminent risk for structural failure and collapse. The County alleged causes of action against the City for (1) dangerous condition of public property, (2) trespass, (3) nuisance, (4) waste, (5) indemnity and contribution, (6) removal of lateral and "subadjacent" (sic) support, (7) declaratory relief, (8) account stated, and (9) goods and services rendered. The County further alleged that pursuant to section 905, subdivision (i), it was not required to present a claim to the City before bringing the lawsuit against the City.²

B. The City’s Demurrer

The City demurred to the first amended complaint on various grounds including, as relevant here, that the complaint was barred because the County failed to plead that it had filed a claim with the City pursuant to the Government Claims Act and Santa Cruz Municipal Code section 1.14.010.

C. The County’s Opposition

In opposition to the demurrer, the County contended that section 905, subdivision (i) contains an exception to the claim presentation requirement for lawsuits, such as the instant one, involving a local public entity (the County) suing another local public entity (the City). The County argued that the City’s ordinance did not apply in this case, because the ordinance expressly states that it only applies to claims that are "not governed by California Government Code section 905 …." (Santa Cruz Mun. Code, § 1.14.010, italics added.) The County contended that its "claims against the City are governed by California Government Code section 905. (See Gov. Code § 905(i).) Thus, by the very language of the Ordinance, claims that are governed by Gov. Code § 905 (such as the ones brought by the County) are not governed by Santa Cruz Municipal Code § 1.14.010." (Boldface omitted & italics added.)

D. The City’s Reply

In reply, the City contended that "[s]ection 935 specifically empowers local public entities to establish their own policies and procedures for the presentation of claims which are excepted by section 905." The City argued that pursuant to section 935, it adopted Santa Cruz Municipal Code section 1.14.010, which covers all claims excepted from section 905 and requires public entities to present a claim to the City before filing suit. The City filed a request for judicial notice of documents reflecting that the County had presented claims to the City on at least five prior occasions. The City also sought judicial notice of certain other cities’ ordinances that contained similar language requiring the presentation of any claim not otherwise " ‘governed’ " by the Government Claims Act.

E. The Trial Court’s Order

After a healing, the trial court filed a written order granting the City’s requests for judicial notice, and sustaining in part and overruling in part the City’s demurrer. Relevant here, the court determined that the County’s civil action was not barred by its failure to comply with the City’s claim presentation ordinance. The ordinance provided that "[c]laims against the City of Santa Cruz for money or damages which are not governed by California Government Code section 905 … shall be governed by this [ordinance]." (Santa Cruz Mun. Code, § 1.14.010, italics added.) The court reasoned: "The County’s claim against the City … is governed by [section] 905 which provides an exception to the claims presentation requirement for the County’s claim against the City."

F. Writ Proceedings

The City filed a petition in this court for a writ of mandate directing the trial court to vacate its demurrer order, and to enter a new order sustaining the demurrer without leave to amend based on the County’s failure to present a claim pursuant to the City’s claim presentation ordinance before filing the lawsuit against the City. The County filed preliminary opposition to the petition, to which the City replied and requested judicial notice of the ordinances of 28 other cities. We granted the City’s request for judicial notice, issued an order to show cause why a peremptory writ should not issue as requested in the petition for a writ of mandate, and provided an opportunity for further briefing and oral argument. We also granted the application of the League of California Cities for leave to file an amicus curiae brief in support of the City.

III. DISCUSSION

The City contends that the language of its claim presentation ordinance, which applies to claims "not governed by" section 905 (Santa Cruz Mun. Code, § 1.14.010), must be interpreted as applying to claims "except[ed]" from section 905 (§ 905), in view of the construction and intent of the ordinance as well as the similar language contained in other cities’ claim presentation ordinances. The County responds that the City’s ordinance applies to claims "not governed by" section 905. (Santa Cruz Mun. Code, § 1.14.010.) According to the County, its...