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Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Judge's final ruling: Take strong mayor initiative off ballot
by Kathleen Haley, published on January 21, 2010 at 10:02 AM
Storyline: Sacramento City Hall / Politics
A Sacramento Superior Court judge said in a final ruling that the strong mayor initiative should not be placed on the June ballot.
Judge Loren McMaster wrote that the initiative would not align with state law. McMaster determined that the initiative is a revision of the city charter, not an amendment.
In his lawsuit, plaintiff Bill Camp sued the city of Sacramento, the Sacramento City Council and Thomas Hiltachk, the attorney who wrote the strong mayor initiative. Camp argued that making significant changes to a city charter through an initiative would break state law. Amendments of a city charter, not major changes, can be made through an initiative, Camp argued.
Hiltachk said in a Jan. 14 statement that he would appeal the case to the Third District Court of Appeals if McMaster decided the initiative should not go on the ballot.
The strong mayor initiative would allow Mayor Kevin Johnson and future Sacramento mayors to have the powers of the city manager and create the city budget.
Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.
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I would strongly suggest using an experienced appeal firm who have won similar cases and have published opinions in this area of law. Try John Baba @ Wiegel & Fried in SF.
Otherwise, save your money, Hiltachk just isn't the right attorney for this kind of appeal.
This is a big a slap against democracy as the Supreme Court's recent decision to allow corps to empty their treasuries to buy a government it wants.
The odd thing is one came from the far right and the local effort from the far left.... a pox on both your houses!!