[WEBINAR] Who Does What? Defining Proper Roles for Staff and Elected Officials
In litigation underlying Satcher v. Columbia County, 2024 WL 3802370 (Ga. Aug. 13, 2024), property owners sued the County related to damage caused by their privately-owned 48-inch pipe that had been used as part of the...more
Water Agencies Beware Before Proceeding with Forced Municipalization - California’s state water system serves roughly 40 million people and irrigates nearly 10 million acres of farmland. The 2023 water year was ranked as...more
Effective October 3, 2023, the construction competitive bidding threshold for certain Ohio political subdivisions including libraries, counties, and townships will increase from $50,000 to $75,000 through 2024, and will...more
At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, on March 16, 2020, at the Attorney General’s request, Governor Greg Abbott utilized Section 418.016 of the Government Code to suspend certain requirements of the Texas Open Meetings Act...more
For some time now, improving broadband internet access has been a priority for school districts and other political subdivisions across Ohio. Moreover, one of the main challenges faced by school districts in their efforts to...more
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the work of public entities had to continue. Amended Substitute House Bill 197 made that possible, by modifying the requirements of R.C. 121.22 to permit public bodies to meet by...more
The Economic Stabilization and Assistance to Severely Distressed Sectors of the United States Economy (Title IV of the Cares Act) provides assistance to companies, states, and municipalities that are distressed because of the...more
A popular topic on this blog is standing in the context of a challenge to a municipal determination, primarily under the State Environmental Quality Review Act. A recent case issued by the Appellate Division, Second...more
Several weeks ago, relaxing into vacation mode in Florida, I turned on the morning news as we got ready for the beach. The phrase “cybersecurity breach” caught my attention, especially in light of recent MuniBlog posts on...more
We recently reported on the California Supreme Court’s decision in Oroville which provided a relaxed standard for public agencies facing inverse condemnation claims. Since that decision, a new unpublished Court of Appeal...more
While the Ralph M. Brown Act provides a “committee exception” to the public comment requirement for public entities’ regular meetings, the exception does not apply to special meetings, a California appellate court said in a...more
Public entities can place reasonable time restrictions on public comment at their meetings as long as the time restrictions do not violate state or federal law, a California appellate court said in a fairly sweeping decision....more
Trail immunity has been examined by the appellate courts numerous times over the past 18 months, most recently in Arvizu v. City of Pasadena, where the plaintiff entered a public park after hours and injured himself when he...more
Of the many immunities available under the California Government Code, “trail immunity” under section 831.4 has long shielded public entities from liability when injuries are suffered by those using public property for...more
Racial discrimination; City Contracting Ordinances; Federal Affirmative Action Compliance in Contracting – Plaintiff-contractor sued the City of Jacksonville, alleging racial discrimination against him and other...more
In a crucial victory for transparency, a Florida state appeals court ruled that the state's open meetings law will not "condone hiding behind federal mediation" when municipal governments try "to thwart the requirements of...more
Community leaders need to be attentive to the new laws that will take effect in 2015 that deal with issues specifically relating to cities, special districts and other public agencies. These new laws cover everything from...more
Recently, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, who oversees five municipal public pension funds with $160 billion in assets, announced an initiative to give shareholders who meet specified criteria the right to nominate...more
In Suarez v. City of Corona, 2014 DJDAR 12101, the California Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District decided an interesting case concerning the interpretation of California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1038....more
The state prevailing wage threshold for total work done for a municipality or on property or premises owned by a municipality will increase from $14,187 to $15,444 beginning July 1, 2014. ...more