1994 AGN JUL 05 I27 - Laserfiche WebLink

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TO: FROM: AGENDA REPORT CITY OF COLTON For City Council Meeting of July 5, 1994 HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL Julie Hayward Biggs, City SUBJECT: Amicus Curiae Briefs Attorney - ,lune 15, 1994 We frequently receive requests from other cities and from the League of Cities relating to the participation of the City of Colton in amicus curiae briefs submitted in connection with high profile cases that address municipal law issues. When time and agenda space permits, it has been my practice to bring those cases that I believe are likely to be of interest to the City of Colton to the Council for approval to join in the amicus brief when no cost is involved to the City. Many cases are not presented to the Council for consideration either because I have made the discretionary decision that a particular case is not of particular interest to the City or because time constraints have made it impossible to place the matter on the closed session agenda in time for action to be taken. In order to more consistently address these requests, and to limit the time required to prepare an full agenda report and to have that report formally considered by the council in closed session, it might be worthwhile to consider authorizing the City Attorney to make decisions regarding these matters without prior consultation with the Council. Participation in an amicus brief expresses support for the party requesting that participation, but does not commit the City to any particular position as to future matters that may arise locally. The authorization to the City Attorney may specifically be limited to situations in which no cost is involved for the City's participation. If this policy is adopted, I would plan to submit a monthly report to the Council briefly itemizing those cases in which a decision has been made for the City of Colton to participate. If there is any objection to a particular decision that has been made, the City Attorney will then simply request that the City of Colton be removed from amicus participation. The report could be agendized simply as a consent item. If the Council wishes to grant such authorization to the City Attorney, it should direct the City Attorney to prepare a resolution to that effect for consideration at the next City Council meeting. Concurrence: JZJ /L1 City anager Iv Item No.