Opinions Published in 2002

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OPINION NUMBER

00-1009
When a customer uses a debit card to purchase gasoline at a service station, the service station owner may not cause a hold to be placed upon the customer’s bank account before allowing the gasoline to be pumped where the amount of the hold is in excess of the purchase price of the gasoline ultimately pumped, the hold extends beyond the fueling event, and the owner does not inform the customer of the existence of the hold.

00-1107
1) “Participating revenue districts” for purposes of the alternative method of distributing tax levies are cities and districts for which county officers assess property and collect taxes or assessments and for which the alternative method of distributing tax levies has been implemented.
2) The consequences of being a public district “for which the county treasury is not the legal depository” for purposes of the alternative method of distributing tax levies are that such district’s governing board and the board of supervisors must both approve the district’s participation in order to implement the program for the district.

00-1212
1) The City and County of San Francisco is statutorily required to obtain approval from the County of San Mateo of its plans to expand San Francisco International Airport into San Francisco Bay on property located within the county before the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission may act on the city’s permit application for the project.
2) The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission may not waive or postpone the statutory requirement that the County of San Mateo approve the plans for the airport expansion before the commission may act on the city’s permit application.

01-103
It is a violation of the state’s animal cruelty laws for an animal control officer or humane society officer to use intracardiac administration of euthanasia on a conscious animal in an animal shelter or humane society facility if the animal may first be rendered unconscious in a humane manner or if, in light of all the circumstances, the procedure is unjustifiable.

01-313
A county ordinance may prohibit the transfer of funds into a county candidate’s or elective county officer’s campaign committee from any other campaign committee controlled by a candidate but only with respect to transfers from one candidate to another and only in order to avoid “funneling” where a valid contribution limit is in place.

01-401
1) The open meeting requirements of the Ralph M. Brown Act apply to the meetings of the governing board of a private, nonprofit corporation formed for the purpose of providing programming for a cable television channel set aside for educational use by a cable operator pursuant to its franchise agreement with a city and subsequently designated by the city to provide the programming services.
2) The records disclosure requirements of the Public Records Act apply to a private, nonprofit corporation formed for the purpose of providing programming for a cable television channel set aside for educational use by a cable operator pursuant to its franchise agreement with a city and subsequently designated by the city to provide the programming services.

01-505
1) A county board of education may not meet in closed session under the "personnel exception" of the Ralph M. Brown Act to consider the appointment, employment, evaluation of performance, discipline, or dismissal of certificated or classified employees of the county superintendent of schools.
2) A county board of education may not meet in closed session under the "labor negotiations exception" of the Ralph M. Brown Act to consider the salaries or compensation paid in the form of fringe benefits to certificated or classified employees of the county superintendent of schools.

01-601
Where a city proposes to enter into a development agreement with a developer, a senior staff member of the city may not participate in the negotiations and drafting of the agreement if her spouse is employed by a firm that will provide outreach services for the developer with respect to the project pursuant to a yearly retainer agreement, even though the spouse has no ownership interest in the firm, he will not work on the city’s project, and his income will not be affected by the outcome of the development agreement or project.

01-605
A county board of supervisors has statutory authority to charge a fee for a copy of a public record that exceeds the fee amount authorized by the California Public Records Act provided that the fee set by the county does not exceed the amount reasonably necessary to recover the cost to the county of providing the copy. In granting such statutory authority, the Legislature has specified exceptions for fees charged in furnishing copies of certain public records.

01-607
A city may contract with another city for law enforcement services where one of its council members is a retired police officer previously employed by the other city and who currently receives Public Employees Retirement System health benefits from the other city; the council member may participate in the making of the contract.

01-609
1) Where the prosecution has (1) electronically recorded a witness's statement, (2) hired a certified shorthand reporter to report the statement, and (3) furnished to the defense a copy of the electronic recording, the prosecution may nevertheless have a duty to order a transcript of the statement from the reporter for inspection by the defense depending upon the particular circumstances.
2) The prosecution's duty to disclose discoverable materials does not include a duty to furnish copies of such materials to the defense.
3) The prosecution, having elected to disclose discoverable materials by furnishing copies to the defense, may not require reimbursement for the cost of copying such materials.
4) The furnishing of copies of discoverable materials by the prosecution to the defense without charge would not constitute an improper "gift" of public funds.

01-619
School districts and community college districts may pay for printing, handling, translating, and mailing trustee candidate statements contained in the voter’s pamphlet.

01-701
A county may require an applicant for a coastal development permit to agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the county in any action brought by a third party to void the permit.

01-802
Members of the board of directors of a public transit agency may accept passes for free transportation on the agency’s buses in order to perform their duties of monitoring the agency’s transportation services.

01-803
The State Allocation Board is not authorized to notify the Secretary of the Senate and the Chief Clerk of the Assembly when new construction grant requests from school districts that are ready for apportionment exceed the state funds available for new school construction as long as the board continues to approve apportionments.

01-807
Persons committed to county jail who participate in an electronic monitoring home detention program are eligible for good conduct and work credits.

01-901
The State Board of Equalization may publicly disclose information that its staff has compiled regarding timber and log sales transactions if the information is provided in a source-neutral, summary fashion that does not identify or make ascertainable specific timber or log sales transactions or the parties involved in such transactions.

01-902
The city council of a general law city that provides medical benefits to its members while in office, and which has never continued such benefits to its members after leaving office, may now provide for the continuation of such benefits for its currently serving members after they leave office only if the recipients participate on a self-pay basis.

01-1001
Whether Jon S. Taylor is unlawfully holding the office of member of the Calimesa City Council due to a change of residence presents substantial issues of fact and law requiring judicial resolution.

01-1005
1) Federal law enforcement officers, who are employed on a full-time, salaried basis as Department of Defense police officers at the Los Angeles Air Force Base, are exempt from the state law prohibition against carrying concealed, loaded firearms even when they are not on duty.
2) When Department of Defense police officers are engaged in the enforcement of federal criminal laws at the Los Angeles Air Force Base, they may make arrests for violations of state law occurring on the base if the arrests are incidental to the performance of their federal law enforcement duties and they have satisfied the appropriate training requirements.
3) The provisions of the state Vehicle Code are applicable to the roads of the Los Angeles Air Force Base.

01-1006
A workforce investment board may continue to contract with a newly elected city council member for the performance of employment development services, which he has provided to the board for over five years prior to his election, where the board was created by a joint powers agreement between the city and two other public agencies, the agreement provides for the administration of all contracts by the city’s employees, including the ministerial execution of all contracts by the city manager, and the city council does not review, consider, approve, administer, or monitor performance of any board contract.

01-1007
A trustee of the Lakeside Union School District may not serve simultaneously as a director of the Padre Dam Municipal Water District.

01-1101
1) Are the meetings of the Clinical Advisory Panel within the Department of Managed Health Care subject to the requirements of the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act?
2) If so, may the Clinical Advisory Panel meet in closed session when it obtains and reviews information and findings arising from the independent medical review system?

01-1103
A general law city may not enter into a contract with a private security company authorizing the company's employees to issue citations for Vehicle Code parking violations.

01-1107
1) A person may serve simultaneously as a city council member and a deputy county counsel.
2) A city council, one member of which is serving simultaneously as a deputy county counsel, may enter into a contract with the county to obtain law enforcement services, provided that the member's employment is disclosed to the council at the time of consideration of the contract and noted in its official records.
3) A city council member, who is serving simultaneously as a deputy county counsel, may participate in the city's contract negotiations with the county to obtain law enforcement services.

01-1114
Where the general municipal election for a general law city has been set by ordinance for the date of the statewide general election in November of even numbered years, an initiative measure to repeal a city tax may be submitted to the voters on the date of the statewide direct primary election in March only if the measure statutorily qualifies to be submitted at a special election which coincides with the March primary election.

01-1201
A county board of education may grant scholarships and monetary awards to county students when it is acting as the governing board of a school district.

01-1210
A licensed contractor may employ a person whose contractor's license has been revoked by the Contractors' State License Board.

02-102
1) The Legislature may prohibit the prescribing of drugs by clinical psychologists even though they have received training with respect to the use of prescription drugs under guidelines adopted pursuant to the Legislature’s directive,when at the same time the Legislature has granted prescription authorization to certain other health care professionals.
2) The Board of Psychology may not authorize by regulation the prescribing of psychotropic medications by clinical psychologists who have received training with respect to the use of prescription drugs under guidelines adopted pursuant to the Legislature’s directive.

02-103
A district attorney may not make copies of documents maintained in a juvenile case file without first obtaining a court order authorizing the copying of the documents.

02-113
1) A “fundamental” school that has a district-wide attendance area and a “back-to-basics” curriculum, which its students and their parents must agree to support, is not exempt from “a random, unbiased process” in selecting pupils for enrollment when requests for admission of those meeting the entrance criteria exceed the capacity of the school.
2) A “first come, first served” selection policy does not constitute a “random, unbiased process” in selecting pupils for enrollment when requests for admission exceed the capacity of the school.

02-207
Videotapes made by security cameras on public buses and other transit vehicles are generally required to be retained for one year; the retention period may be reduced to 90 days under specified circumstances.

02-306
1) Whether Joel Scalzitti is unlawfully holding the office of director of the Helix Water District due to a failure to satisfy the qualification of being a landowner within the district presents substantial issues of fact and law requiring judicial resolution.
2) Whether Joel Scalzitti is unlawfully holding the office of director of the Helix Water District due to a failure to satisfy the qualification of being a resident within the division of the district from which he was elected presents substantial issues of fact and law requiring judicial resolution.

02-404
A load of aggregate material is not required to be covered when transported on a highway if it remains six inches from the upper edge of the sides, front and back of the vehicle's cargo container area and does not extend at its peak above any part of the upper edge. However, the operator of the vehicle remains subject to citation if any of the material escapes from the vehicle.

02-406
Members of the news media may not attend a child's individualized education program meeting as observers even though their attendance has the consent of the parents.

02-407
A development created in 1972 which was recorded under "a map of a condominium project" and granted a special use permit by the county "for a Planned Residential Development which is a condominium," where the residents own separate lots and an undivided interest in the lot constituting the common area, is a "planned development" for purposes of California law.

02-509
Cities are exempt from paying documentary transfer taxes when acquiring title to real property.

02-601
A financial institution that issues credit cards may charge a cardholder a service fee when it creates a demand draft for presentation to the cardholder’s bank for payment of a current or past due credit card obligation if charging the fee is authorized in the credit card agreement.

02-704
A person may not serve concurrently as a director of the Round Valley County Water District and director of the Covelo Community Services District.

02-708
A volunteer firefighter may serve on the board of directors of a fire protection district even though he receives $8 for each response to a fire call and an allowance of up to $200 from the district for the purchase of boots.

02-711
Public funds of a general law city may not be expended to reimburse city council members for their expenses in purchasing meals for third parties, such as constituents, legislators and private business owners, at meetings held to discuss legislation or other matters of benefit to the city. If the charter so authorizes, public funds of a charter city may be expended for such purposes.

02-809
A business owner may not conduct a promotion in which (1) each customer is given a card, (2) when a product is purchased at the regular price, the card is stamped, (3) once the card is stamped four times, the customer receives a free product of the type previously purchased and (4) the card is entered in a drawing for a free vacation.