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Home My WebLink AboutAgenda Report - May 5, 1982 (16)COUNCIL. SUPPORTS 511500 (BEVERLY) l RES. NC. 82 -45 t r CITY COUNCIL MEETING MAY 51 1982 City Attorney Stein gave a detailed report on S B 500 (Beverly) which deals with the subject of joint and several liability. Mr. Stein asked for Council's support on this piece of legislation. Following discussion, with questions being directed to the City Attorney, Council, on motion of Councilman Pinkerton, Murphy second, adopted Resolution No. 82-45 supporting S B500 (Beverly). CITY COUNCIL f Rt 1) M RE 10. RROMRIG MURPHY, CITY O F L O D I xiatior Pro Tempore CITY ItAtt, 221 WEST PINE 51REII IVtIYN n1 OISON POST OFFICE SOX 320 IAP-11S W PINK[RION. It LOBI, CALIFORNIA 95,241 JOHN R (Randy) SNIDER (209) 334-5634 May 4, 1982 Assemblyman Elihu Harris Chairman, Assembly Committee on Judiciary State Capitol Sacramento, California 95814 Dear Assemblyman Harris: HENRY A GLAYES. It City Manager ALICE M RE WCHE City Clerk RONALD M STEIN City Attorney Also sent to entire ` Committee (see attached League bulletin) I read with interest that SB50V (Beverly) will be before your Assembly Committee on Judiciary in June. As you know, this legislation does deal with the subject of joint and several liability and it is this City's concern that you consider the importance of the passage of this legislation as it relates to the cont.'nued drain on the cities' budgets due to the "deep pocket th%;Iory of law". SB500 is long overdue and it in particularly critical with the ever -emptying pocket of local government. It does not seem fair that a city which is found to be 18, 28, or 5% liable is required to pay 100% of a damage award. Said inequity makes a farce out of comparable negligence. Again, it does noL seem fair that the cities are a target defendant any time there is any accident within the city limits. Let's be honest! The reason why we are the target defendant is not because of our liability, but because of our "deep pocket". A law school adage - that you take your plaintiff as you find them, should be reworded to say that in all fairness, you should take your defendant as you find them. If the defendant is 5% liable, thea the defendant should pay 5% of the damages. An interesting analysis of joint and several liability can be seen by reading Ba et v. Shepard which is cited in 180 Cal.Rptr. 396 (said case has recently been decertified). Most noteworthy in the case is the language on page 401, to wit: 0 "The 'fairness' principle having been relied upon in Li to strike down the harsh all -or -nothing rule of contributory negligence, it logically followed that the court.was well prepared to extend a 'fairness' salient into the area of the all -or -nothing rule of equitable indemnity." This City would very much appreciate your sL,pport of this legislation and I personally would be willing to testify in support of same if you feel that would be necessary. Thank you, very much. Sincerely yours, RONALD M. STEIN CITY ATTORNEY RMS:vc q� I J� 31� f ` •� ( t_ 2 �. ~�• �r�. League of California 0 -as CV C,t•f•; 170 ra 7090thol 1409 K Street SacraT.en;o 95914 - (910�) 4.4-5790 1301 Pen: isytva ua Ave. N W. Sete 600 • Wasnonitor. C C ?00J--= 1232)V-6-3103 816-1982 April 23, 1982 To: Mayors, City Managers and City Clerks in hon -Manager Cities (Internal Distribution Please: Council Members and all Department Herds) LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES 1. Joint and Several Liability. SB 500 (Beverly) 2. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Calls For Debate on Massive Service Cuts or Tax Increases. Ci:y Motor Vehicle In Lieu Fee Subvention Would be Eliminated Entirety For FY 1982-83 in His Proposal. 3. Local Government Budget Implementation. SB 1477 (Marks) �j 4. Cable Television Bills Reset For Hearing 5. Penalties: Workers' Compensation/OSHA. SB 1591 (Greene) Senate Committee on lndust:ial Relations Amends Bill Completely. 6. Fair Employment Practices: Child Care Leave. AB 3370 (Agnos) Passes Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment. 7. Changed Status of Bills Previously Reported. 8. Note: Sacramento Bee Editorial on Cancer Presumption Attached. FEDERAL AFFAIRS 9. New Federalism Developments. LEGISLA:'IVE ACTIVITIES SUPPORT Joint and Several Liability. SB 500 (Beverl }, which we noted in last we, -k's Legislative Bulletin was set for hearing on April 28 in -he Assembly Committee on Judiciary. has been taken off calendar and will be res.: for hearing in June. City officials should continue to lobby the - meebers of committee who are: Harris (Chair), Imbrecht (Vice Chair), Berman, Hart, Ingalls, Leonard, McAlister, 'Moorhead, Rob!nson, D. Stirling, L. Stirling, Torres. M. Waters, and Wy;3an. We bave starred a legislative telephone fan -out and that should be continued. Additionally, city of`icia13 from cities in the districts of committee members should continue to contact their legislators on the committee, and should make appointments with r:heir lep.islators in the district between now and June. SB 500 is an extremely ic.Ant limitatioi. on ;oint and sev'. ,l liability, y, and could have a very pusitiva financial impact on each city's budget. 2. BUDGET Senate Finance Committee Chairman Calls For Debate on Massive ` UPDATE Service Cuts or Tax Increases. City Motor Vehicle In Lieu Fee Subvention Would be Eliminated Entirely F,. FY 1982-83 in_Hi s Proposal. In last week's Legislative Bulletin -.- rcporteti~that the Department of Finance had forecast a FY 1982-83 budget d,:..ficit (in the budget i proposed in January 1982) of $1.3 billion, assuming the Jure ballet measures affecting the inheritan^e tax and state income tax indexing fail.. This week Senator Alquist, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, proposed serv- ice cuts and tax increases to close this deficit. The following is Senator Al- quist's stati.ment and proposal: (A single bill or set of bills has not yet been introduced.) "During the last two months, the Senate Finance Subcommittees have reviewed hundreds of budget items, making some very painful reductions in funding of essential services. We have almost reached the point of completely under- mining the services that are traditionally supplied by government (this is the kind of action that could destroy us economically - permitting our educa- tion system, our roads and paiks, our recreational facilities to be un-, conscionably degraded). Although the Senate has so far reduced $250 million in its budget hearings, this is nowhere near the amount necessary to bring the budget into balance without further action. If every recommendation offered by the Legislative Analyst were adopted. between $700 and $800 million would be cut. Such action still falls well be- low the revenue the state has available for expenditure. Assuming a prudent reserve of $500 million and the adoption of the new changes proposed for the 1982-83 budget (which could save nearly $300 million), there still will be a shortfall between $1 and $1 1/2 billion dollars. An additional factor in determining the available revenue for expenditure is whether or not the .lune ballot initiatives relating to inheritance taxes and indexing are enacted. Passage of either makes the situation more severe. And so I am signaling an alarm. If the budget is to be balanced, we must make deeper reductions and begin a dialogv.e to consider our alternatives. One option to be considered is the Solomon -like choice involved in further program cuts: Reductions which will affect the ability of established programs to accomplish their goals. If the budget is to be balanced through program cuts, we must do some or all of the following: ACTION EXPENDITURE REDUCTIONS (million) 1) Reduce COLA's (cost of living adjustments) by 50% 2) Reduce Medi -Cal program 3) Reduce City -County subventions a. Eliminate remainder of Motor Vehicle In Lieu License Fee subventions (cities - $120 million, counties - $170 million) - 2 - 500.0 est. 450.0 290.0 (this is in addition to cut of $450 million in Governor's proposal) CITY COUNCIL FRED M Ri.D, Mayor ROBERT C. MURPHY, Mayor Pro Tempore EVELYN M OLSON JAMES W. PINKERTON. Jr. IOHN R (Randy) SNIDE R May 17, 1982 Assemblyman Phillip Wyman Assembly Committee on Judiciary State Capitol Sacramento, California 95814 Dear Assemblyman Wyman: Enclosed please find a. certified copy of Resolution No. 82-45, "Resolution Supporting SB 500 (Beverly) Re Limitation on Join. and Several Liability", which was passed and adopted by the City Council of the City of Lodi in a regular meeting held May 5, 1982. Aft: dg Enc. Very truly yours, Alice M. Reimche City Clerk Mailed to Assemblymen - Wyman, Waters, Torres, Dave Stirling, Larry Stirling, Robinson, Morehead, McAlister, Leonard, Ingalls, Hart, Berman, Imbrecht, Harris HENRY A. GLAVES, It CITY OF L O D I City Manager ALICE M. REIMC E CITY HALL, 221 WEST PINE STkEET City Clark POST OFFICE BOX 320 RONALD M_ STEIN LODI. CALIFORNIA 95241 City Attorney (209) 334-5634 May 17, 1982 Assemblyman Phillip Wyman Assembly Committee on Judiciary State Capitol Sacramento, California 95814 Dear Assemblyman Wyman: Enclosed please find a. certified copy of Resolution No. 82-45, "Resolution Supporting SB 500 (Beverly) Re Limitation on Join. and Several Liability", which was passed and adopted by the City Council of the City of Lodi in a regular meeting held May 5, 1982. Aft: dg Enc. Very truly yours, Alice M. Reimche City Clerk Mailed to Assemblymen - Wyman, Waters, Torres, Dave Stirling, Larry Stirling, Robinson, Morehead, McAlister, Leonard, Ingalls, Hart, Berman, Imbrecht, Harris RESOLUTION 110. 82-45 RESOLUTION SUPPORTING SB 500 (BEVERLY) RE LIt1ITATION ON JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY WHEREAS, cities all over the State of California have been saddled with expensive lawsuit judgements or settlements because of California "joint and several" liability rules; WHEREAS, SB 500 (Beverly) eliminates joi74- liability for all parties in a suit; and WHEREAS, under SB 500 (Beverly) damages beyond medical expenses and actual costs could be recovered from defendants for only the percentage of injury for which they are hel:2 responsible NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Lodi does hereby support SB 500 (Beverly) as individual cities cannot afford to be insurers of the last resort for accidents that happen within their borders. Dated: May 5, 1982 I hereby certify that Resolution No. 82-45 was passed and adopted by the City Council of the City of Lodi in a regular meeting held May 5, 1982 by the following vote: Ayes: Council Members - Olson, Snider, Murphy, Pinkerton, and Reid Noes: Council Members - None Absents: Council Members - None THE FOReWr*r. ^^^t `C,J�t 1'; CfFrirI£D T% V BE CQ A ^,RC :T : C:%f ; : t. ie v t: 11:Ai ON FIl£ IN TIi4C. r;:_. 1' _:� GA�10E_L 0 'J It C;,Y CLER", CI l,I.,R�f Lgpr By DATM 1AA1 11 ALICE M. • REIt CHE City Clerk IIsi l