Williams v. Dekalb Cnty.

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WILLIAMS v. DEKALB COUNTY et al.

No. A22A0508

Court of Appeals of Georgia, First Division

February 22, 2024

BARNES, P. J., BROWN and HODGES, JJ.

HODGES, Judge

In Williams v. DeKalb County, 364 Ga.App. 710 (875 S.E.2d 865) (2022) ("Williams II"), we considered segments of Edward Williams' third amended complaint challenging the manner in which the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners ("the commissioners") introduced and passed a 2018 salary increase in alleged violation of the Open Meetings Act.^[1] See OCGA § 50-14-1 et seq. We affirmed that portion of the Superior Court of DeKalb County's order dismissing Williams' complaint concluding, under then-prevailing precedent, that Williams lacked taxpayer standing to pursue claims for injunctive relief against DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond ("Thurmond"). See Williams II, 364 Ga.App at 714-717 (1). We also affirmed the trial court's refusal to conduct an in camera review of certain e-mails between the commissioners and the DeKalb County attorney. See id. at 728730 (3). However, we vacated that portion of the trial court's judgment granting the commissioners' motion for judgment on the pleadings because the trial court improperly considered affidavits attached to the commissioners' answer without properly converting the motion to one for summary judgment. See id. at 717-728 (2). Therefore, we affirmed the trial court's judgment in part, vacated the judgment in part, and remanded the case for further proceedings. See id. at 730.

The Supreme Court of Georgia granted Williams' petition for certiorari, vacated our opinion in Williams II, and remanded the case to this Court "for reconsideration in light of Sons of Confederate Veterans v. Henry County Bd. of Commissioners, 315 Ga. 39 (880 S.E.2d 168) (2022)." Having done so, we conclude that Williams has demonstrated taxpayer standing to pursue his claim of injunctive relief against Thurmond; we therefore reverse the trial court's order finding that Williams did not have taxpayer standing and remand this case to the trial court to properly consider in the first instance Williams' claim for injunctive relief against Thurmond, including the issue of whether OCGA § 36-5-24 is constitutional. Furthermore, as the Supreme Court's writ of certiorari did not implicate any other part of our opinion in Williams II, we hereby reinstate Divisions 2 and 3 of that opinion herein. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's judgment in part, reverse the judgment in part, vacate the judgment in part, and remand this case for further proceedings.

1. In summary form, and only as is relevant to our decision in this appeal, Williams filed a complaint against Thurmond and the commissioners arguing that the commissioners violated the Open Meetings Act by failing to provide proper notice of their intent to pass a salary ordinance increasing their pay. Williams v. DeKalb County, 308 Ga. 265, 268 (1) (840 S.E.2d 423) (2020) ("Williams I"). Included in Williams' multiple causes of action was a claim for injunctive relief against Thurmond to prevent payment of the increased salaries. The trial court dismissed Williams' claim for injunctive relief against Thurmond, concluding that Williams lacked standing as a citizen or taxpayer. Id. at 266, 271-273 (3) (a), (b) (i), (ii). In Williams I, our Supreme Court vacated the dismissal of Williams' claim for injunctive relief against Thurmond and remanded the case to the trial court, noting that "[t]he resolution of any claim that Williams seeks to have decided against Thurmond should not be addressed by the trial court until it is clear that Williams has standing to bring it and is, therefore, a proper plaintiff." Id. at 274 (3) (b) (ii).

On remand, Thurmond moved to dismiss Williams' injunctive relief claim due to a lack of standing and for failure to state a claim. The trial court granted Thurmond's motion, finding that Williams did not have taxpayer standing^[2] to pursue injunctive relief against Thurmond because he did not: (1) demonstrate that he suffered any particularized harm (alleging only that he "lost trust and faith that they would be able to follow the law"); (2) show an unlawful expenditure of public funds; or (3) demonstrate an illegal act by Thurmond, as the salary ordinance passed and has not been declared unconstitutional. Williams appealed, and we affirmed, holding that "Williams did not have taxpayer standing because he has not shown any particularized harm." (Citations, punctuation, and footnote omitted.) Williams II, 364 Ga.App. at 717 (1).

The Supreme Court granted Williams' petition for certiorari and directed us to reconsider our decision in view of Sons of Confederate Veterans.

(a) Taxpayer standing. In Sons of Confederate Veterans, "various Sons of Confederate Veterans entities" and a Newton County resident filed actions against the Henry County and Newton County boards of commissioners, respectively, to challenge the boards' votes to remove Confederate monuments from public spaces in alleged violation of OCGA § 50-3-1 (b). 315 Ga. at 40, 41 (1) (b). After a thorough examination of the evolution of standing under Georgia law, our Supreme Court noted the historical principle that "taxpayers, as community stakeholders, had standing to sue for injuries that affected the public at large, so long as there was some potential injury to the public purse." Id. at 56 (2) (c) (i); see also Williams I, 308 Ga. at 272 (3) (b) (ii); see generally Savage v. City of Atlanta, 242 Ga. 671, 671-672 (251 S.E.2d 268) (1978). Furthermore, the Court held that

community stakeholders - citizens, residents, voters, and taxpayers - are injured when their local governments do not follow the law. Where a public duty is at stake, a plaintiff's membership in the community provides the necessary standing to bring a cause of action to ensure a local government follows the law.

(Footnotes omitted.) Sons of Confederate Veterans, 315 Ga. at 61 (2) (c) (iii). As a result, the Court determined that only the Newton County resident, "[b]y alleging that she is a citizen of Newton County," alleged a cognizable injury for which she had standing to pursue injunctive relief. Id. at 65 (2) (d) (i). In contrast, the Court concluded that

[t]he various Sons of Confederate Veterans groups did not allege that they are citizens, residents, or taxpayers of any county, much less the counties that they sued. They have set forth no allegations showing that they are community stakeholders, such that the duty created by OCGA § 50-3-1 is one that is owed to them. Therefore, any violation of OCGA § 50-3-1 does not result in a cognizable injury to the Sons of Confederate Veterans groups; and, as a result, they do not have independent, direct standing as organizations.

Id. at 66 (2) (d) (ii).

Upon consideration of the Supreme Court's decision in Sons of Confederate Veterans, we now conclude that Williams has taxpayer standing to bring his claim for injunctive relief against Thurmond.

On remand following Williams I, Williams filed his third amended complaint in which he alleged that Thurmond performed official acts related to the disbursement of salaries to the commissioners, including allegations that Thurmond "controls the disbursement and expenditure of funds once the [salary ordinance] was adopted" and that the "DeKalb County director of finance is not permitted to disburse funds under the salary ordinance . . . without [Thurmond's] approval."

As our Supreme Court has explained, "the question of standing is a jurisdictional issue." (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Williams I, 308 Ga. at 271 (3); see also Sons of Confederate Veterans, 315 Ga. at 44 (2) (a); Perdue v. Barron, 367 Ga.App. 157, 160-161 (1) (885 S.E.2d 210) (2023); In re Haney, 355 Ga.App. 658, 660 (845 S.E.2d 380) (2020) ("[S]tanding is a threshold issue.") (citation, punctuation, and emphasis omitted). Under Georgia law,

only plaintiffs with a cognizable injury can bring a suit in Georgia courts. Unlike federal law, however, that injury need not always be individualized; sometimes it can be a generalized grievance shared by community members, especially other residents, taxpayers, voters, or citizens.

Sons of Confederate Veterans, 315 Ga. at 39. To that end, "when a local government owes a legal duty to community stakeholders, the violation of that legal duty constitutes an injury that our case law has recognized as conferring standing to those stakeholders, even if the plaintiff at issue suffered no individualized injury." Id. at 67 (2) (d) (ii).

Applying this rubric, we conclude that Williams' original petition, as well as the Supreme Court's decision in Williams I, each demonstrate that he has taxpayer standing. See Sons of Confederate Veterans, 315 Ga. at 61 (2) (c) (iii) ("Although the terms 'citizens' and 'residents' are perhaps more precise (or less confusing) in cases involving a public duty, these types of cases reflect that community stakeholders - citizens, residents, voters, and taxpayers - are injured when their local governments do not follow the law.") (punctuation and footnote omitted; emphasis supplied), 65 (2) (d) (i) ("By alleging that she is a citizen of Newton County, [the petitioner] has alleged a cognizable injury as a result of Newton County's vote to move a public monument from display, in violation of OCGA § 50-3-1."). Williams' original complaint, and each of his amended complaints, alleged that he "resides in unincorporated DeKalb County." Moreover, our Supreme Court noted in Williams I that Williams is a citizen and a taxpayer of DeKalb County. 308 Ga. at 268 (1) (noting Williams "is a citizen and taxpayer of DeKalb County"), 272 (3) (b) (i) (describing Williams "as a citizen of DeKalb County"); see also OCGA § 9-11-60 (h).

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