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US Supreme Court to Look at Privacy of Government Workers' Emails, Texts

The US Supreme Court is going to take up the case of an Ontario, CA police officer, whose text messages were exposed for the world to see -- just because he used a city-issued blackberry to send 'em.  As CNN writes:

"At issue is how far a government employer may go to monitor the private communications of its workers when they believe that the use of such equipment is being abused.

And the court will explore whether service providers can be held liable for providing those communications without the consent of the sender."

The story of the Ontario cop is worth reading.  It seems that his supervisor got a little irked at the costly texting of a number of officers, and decided to audit the use of the city-issued texting devices.  Many of the texts he discovered from this one particular officer were a bit *ahem* you know, ""to say the least, sexually explicit in nature."  And there you go.  In fact, of the 450 texts the officer received over one month period, only 3 were deemed work related. 

The outcome could, obviously, have pretty far reaching implications for everything from your city owned computer to your Blackberry. 

Read more from CNN. 

Lawsuit Challenges Strong-Mayor Move in Sacramento

Freshman mayor Kevin Johnson has been pushing an aggressive move to make the Capitol City a Strong-Mayor town.  This has divided the city and its council, but had generated sufficient support to place it before the city's voters in June 2010. 

Now a union-backed group is challenging the measure on the grounds that such a measure can only be placed on the ballot by the council, not by initiative.  "We believe this poorly conceived and badly written measure is not only bad public policy, it is an illegal power grab that exceeds the bounds of what is allowed under the California Constitution," said Matt Kelly, chair of the campaign fighting Johnson's proposal in the SacBee.

The initiative was drafted be renowned political attorney Tom Hiltachk, so it would be tough to see it not holding up in court. 

Read more in the SacBee or the Sacramento Press.

Update: San Jacinto Council Votes Benefited Donors

Details of the San Jacinto Council scandal are emerging, and they ain't pretty. 

At the center of the maelstrom is councilman, and former Assembly candidate, Jim Ayers.  A Press Enterprise report from over the weekend details how Ayers received close to $200,000 in campaign contributions from a pair of Orange County developers, and allegedly exchanged this support for considerations in proposed developments in his city. 

Ayers is saying that many of these matters were not controversial, and passed unanimously or on a 4-1 council vote.  A meticulous timeline assembled by the Press Enterprise (presumably mirrored in the 50+ count indictment) set against re zoning and other key votes, however, raises serious questions.

Read more here.  Oh, and if you're curious as to where the sole, unindicted San Jacinto Councilmember stands on all of this, there's a profile on him here.

DA in Standoff with LA City Council Over Pot Shops

LA County District Attorney Steve Cooley isn't very impressed with the LA Council's efforts to pass an ordinance regulating the over the counter sale of medical marijuana.  "Quite frankly we're ignoring them," Cooley was quoted in the LA Times this week, saying he's going to prosecute the distributors regardless on the grounds they are in violation of state law -- a position also held by City Attorney Trutanich.

Read more about the stand off in the LA Times.

Update on ‘In God We Trust’

The subject of having ‘In God We Trust’ inscribed on city monuments created quite a stir last year.  Now the issue has resurfaced in Orange County, where Costa mesa Councilmember Wendy Leece would like to have the phrase inscribed behind the council dais. 

Leece says the move is intended to "promote patriotism," but critics of course dispute the connection of the phrase and patriotic sentiment. 

The movement to spread the use of the phrase in council chambers nationwide started with Bakersfield Councilmember Jacquie Sullivan in 2001.  Read more on the status of that effort, and the prospects for Costa mesa signing on, in the Daily Pilot. 

Local Governments Big Losers on Lawsuits

California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) has released a report on "California's Cities and Counties Litigation Costs Revealed."  The study looks at the state' largest cities and counties and finds a pretty bleak situation.  Writes CALA:

"Litigation costs will always be present in the public sector, as there will always be lawsuits with merit that deserve their day in court.  However, government entities are too often seen as deep pockets, even in today’s tough times, and abusive lawsuits are filed in an attempt for some plaintiffs to get rich quick... The fact is cities and counties are no longer able to afford even the basic costs of operation, let alone the unpredictable cost of lawsuits."

The study tallies up over a half billion in costs in just the few jurisdictions it studied, only the tip of the iceberg when you consider the sheer number of cities, counties and school districts across the state.  Read the full report here.

Water Talks Stalled

Assembly Republicans, unimpressed with plans to create a Coastal Commission-esque oversight body for the Delta, have introduced their own water legislation.  If that doesn't say this going nowhere fast, nothing does. 

The LA Times has a good rundown of the current status and atmosphere in the Capitol surrounding this issue, but Dan Walters has another good piece on what's really at stake -- the future of land use and development in California. 

"In a semi-arid state such as California, whether land remains undeveloped, is cultivated for agriculture, or is covered with houses and shopping centers depends almost entirely on the availability of water.  That was true when Los Angeles' civic and political gentry, eager for profitable land development in the San Fernando Valley, stealthily grabbed water from the Owens Valley a century ago. It's even truer today."

Bonds for Gold Scheme Nets Mayor 800 Years in Jail

That's not a typo in the headline.  Birmingham, Alabama Mayor Larry Langford has been convicted on 60 counts of federal bribery charges for steering over $7 million in county bond business to an associate who gave Langford money and jewelry.  The jury took less than two hours to convict Langford, and when sentencing takes place he could receive over 800 years. 

The Birmingham Weekly has the best write up we've seen.

Courts Supporting Cities' Local Control Rights on Cell Towers

The LA Times has a look at how cities are largely getting the backing of the courts when it comes to rejecting cell towers on aesthetic grounds.  This is actually pretty significant news, as utilities are notoriously fierce litigators.  

The Times' story focuses on a case in ritzy Ralos Verdes Estates, which raises some questions about varying standards among wealthy communities, but the legal issues hold for any city.  Read more.

Feds, Judges Say: Decriminalize It... Don't Criticize It

It's been a big week on the medicinal marijuana front this week, as both the Justice Department and a Superior Court Judge handed victories to proponents of medical marijuana.

Where to start on this one?  The federal issue may have the most far reaching implications, but Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant essentially overruling LA's moratorium on pot dispensaries is a pretty clear affront to local control, whatever your opinions are on marijuana -- medical or otherwise.  The LA City Council and City Attorney's office are now scrambling to update their ordinance to try and get a handle on this situation, which may look more like an outright ban than a moratorium.  There are only ballpark estimates of how many facilities there are in LA, high 3-figures seems conservative. 

Back to the Feds.  On Monday, Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. ordered federal law enforcement agencies not to devote scarce resources to prosecuting patients and suppliers acting in accordance with state laws that allow medicinal use of marijuana.  This was greeted with cheers by supporters of its use, and many policy makers are calling it a more "sensible policy." 

Indeed, most sensible folks (including us) would rather devote FBI and DEA resources to bigger fish, even in the drug arena.  What's missing, as the LA Times writes, "The new guidelines don't provide the comprehensive reforms necessary to bring state and federal policies into alignment. Indeed, they may just produce more confusion."

And that's the problem.  Whether you support pot for medicinal (or recreational) use, there's really not a dispute that the legal gray area for cities is a nightmare.  Cities are fighting expensive legal battles to get control of dispensary proliferation, which in an unregulated environment are rife for public safety issues. 

Read more on the new federal approach in the Chron, Merc and LA Times.