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City Council Meeting 10-13-87
Santa Monica, California
STAFF REPORT
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OCT 1 3 1987
TO:
Mayor and City Council
FROM:
City Attorney
SUBJECT:
Ordinance Amending santa Monica Municipal Code
Section 2804 Relating to city Attorney Authority
to Settle or Compromise Any Liability of city
Within A Specified Dollar Amount
At its meeting on February 24, 1987, the city council
directed the city Attorney to prepare an ordinance amending Santa
Monica Municipal Code Section 2804 increasing the amount of
authority granted to the City Attorney to settle or compromise
any liability of the City.
In response to this direction, the
accompanying ordinance has been prepared and is presented to the
City council for its consideration.
A survey was conducted by the city Attorney's office
regarding the issue of City Attorney authority to settle cases
and claims. Ten nearby municipalities ",ere contacted and each
city provided information to the City Attorney's office regarding
the amount of authority given to the City Attorney to settle
cases and the related policy in the City Attorney's offices. The
follovling is a brief description of the responses provided by
each city:
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OCT 1 3 1987
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1.
Anaheim.
The City Attorney has authority of up to
$15,000.00 to settle cases.
Everything over this amount must
have City Council approval.
2.
Burbank.
The City Attorney has authority to settle
cases up to the Small Claims Court limit ($1,500.00) and all
settlements over this amount must receive City Council approval.
3. city of Los Angeles. The City Attorney has authority
to settle cases for up to $15,000.00 and settlements in excess of
this amount must be approved by the City Council.
4.
County of Los Angeles.
The County Counsel has
settlement authority in an amount of up to $20,000.00.
Settlement amounts between $20,000.00 and $100,000.00 must be
approved by County Counsel, and then be approved by a Claims
Board which consists of someone from the County Counsel's office,
the Auditor I s
office,
and
Chief Administrative Officer.
Settlements for over $100 1000.00 must be approved by County
Counsel, the Claims Board, and the Board of supervisors.
5. Culver city. The City Attorney has authority to settle
cases up to an amount of $5,000.00. A committee consisting of
the city Attorney, city Clerk, and Chief Administrative officer
has authority to approve settlement of cases betvleen $5,000.00
and $10,000.00,
and the Ci ty Council must approval all
settlements over $10,000.00.
6. Lonq Beach. The City Attorney has authority to settle
cases other than police cases in an amount up to $5,000.00, and
in police cases and those cases settled for over $5,000.00, city
Council approval must be sought.
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7. Newport Beach. A joint review is required by the City
Attorney, city Manager, and Risk Manager. This review board has
unlimited authority; however, any settlement which has political
implications is referred to the City council.
8. Pasadena. The City Attorney has authority to settle
cases up to $20,000.00.
9. Santa Ana. The City Attorney has authority to settle
cases for up to $5,000.00, and the City council must approve all
settlements for greater amounts.
10.
Torrance.
The City Attorney has no authority.
In
amounts of under $1,000.00, the City Attorney and the City
Manager or Executive Director of the Redevelopment Agency can
approve settlements.
All other settlements must have City
Council approval.
Based upon this review, it is recommended that the City
Attorney I S settlement authority be increased from $2,500.00 to
$15,000.00 for the following reasons:
1. The $2,500.00 authority was last set in 1955 and has
not been adjusted.
(Simply using a Consumer Price Index
adjustment vlould result in an increase to approximately
$11,000.00.)
2. The amount is in the range of authority of other City
Attorneys with comparable offices. (E.q., Anaheim and Pasadena.)
3. Based upon past experience, a $15,000.00 limit appears
to be an appropriate dividing line between those cases that are
routinely approved for settlement and cases presenting much
greater exposure to the City.
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RECOI~ENDATION
It is respectfully recommended that the accompanying
ordinance be introduced for first reading.
PREPARED BY: Robert M. Myers, city Attorney
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City Council Meeting lO-13-87
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Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER
(City Council series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF SANTA MONICA AMENDING SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL
CODE SECTION 2804 RELATING TO CITY ATTORNEY AUTHORITY
TO SETTLE OR COMPROMISE ANY LIABILITY OF THE CITY
WITHIN A SPECIFIED DOLLAR AMOUNT
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES ORDAIN AS
FOLLOWS:
SECTION l. section 2804 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code
is amended to read as follows:
SECTION
2804.
City
Attorney
Settlement Authority. The City Attorney,
or his or her duly authorized assistant or
deputy, is hereby authorized to settle or
compromise any liability of the City,
whether a claim has been filed as provided
by la\., or not, in all cases where the
amount necessary to be expended in order
to settle or compromise such claim does
not
exceed Fifteen
Thousand Dollars
($15,000.00), without the necessary of
first receiving the approval of the city
council and said city Attorney in such
event is authorized to request the
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Director of Finance to draw a demand
directly
upon
the
appropriate
self-insurance fund for the payment of
such sum.
The Director of Finance is
authorized to draw such demand upon the
request of the City Attorney.
SECTION 2.
Any provision of the Santa Monica r-Iunicipal
code or appendices thereto inconsistent with the provisions of
this Ordinance, to the extent of such inconsistencies and no
further, are hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary
to affect the provisions of this ordinance.
SECTION 3.
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause,
or phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid
or unconstitutional by a decision of any court of any competent
jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the
remaining portions of this Ordinance.
The City council hereby
declares that it would have passed this ordinance, and each and
every section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase not
declared invalid or unconstitutional ",ithout regard to 'i."hether
any portion of the Ordinance would be subsequently declared
invalid or unconstitutional.
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SECTION 4. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall
attest to the passage of this Ordinance. The city Clerk shall
cause the same to be published once in the official newspaper
within 15 days after its adoption. This Ordinance shall become
effective after 30 days from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FOR}f:
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ROBERT M. MYERS ()
city Attorney
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