O26201
City Council Meeting: October 22, 2019 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2620 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
ADDING SECTION 2.32.040 OF THE SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE TO
ENHANCE THE INVESTIGATIVE AUTHORITY OF THE CITY ATTORNEY
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Monica is a municipal corporation existing under its
charter and the laws of the State of California and is empowered by the California
Constitution to control its own municipal affairs; and
WHEREAS, Article XI of the California Constitution recognizes the City’s authority
to enforce laws of general application via its police power; and
WHEREAS, Section 708 of the City Charter states that the City Attorney shall
represent and appear for the City in any or all actions and proceedings in which the City
is concerned or is a party; and
WHEREAS, Section 708 of the City Charter further states that the City Attorney
shall prosecute on behalf of the people all criminal cases for violation of the Charter and
of City ordinances, and all misdemeanor offenses arising upon violation of the laws of the
State; and
WHEREAS, California Penal Code Section 373a states that it is the duty of “the
city attorney or city prosecutor of any city the charter of which imposes the duty upon the
city attorney or city prosecutor to prosecute state misdemeanors, to continuously
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prosecute all persons guilty of” maintaining, permitting, or allowing a nuisance in violation
of law until the nuisance is abated and removed; and
WHEREAS, California Code of Civil Procedure Section 731 gives “the city attorney
of any town or city in which [a] nuisance exists” the authority to file a civil action to abate
that nuisance pursuant to state nuisance laws; and
WHEREAS, California Civil Code Section 52 authorizes the City Attorney to
enforce civil rights protections under the Unruh Civil Rights Act; and
WHEREAS, California Civil Code Section 1789.20 authorizes the City Attorney to
prosecute misdemeanor actions or institute equity proceedings for violations of state law
governing credit services; and
WHEREAS, California Business and Professions Code Section 13301 authorizes
the City Attorney to enforce state law governing weights and measures for automatic
checkout systems; and
WHEREAS, California Business and Professions Code Section 17204 authorizes
actions for injunctive relief under the Unfair Competition Law to be prosecuted by “a city
prosecutor in a city having a full-time prosecutor in the name of the people of the State of
California upon their own complaint or upon the complaint of a board, officer, person,
corporation, or association, or by a person who has suffered injury in fact and has lost
money or property as a result of the unfair competition ” and civil actions for penalties to
be brought “by any city attorney of any city and county, or, with the consent of the district
attorney, by a city prosecutor in any city having a full-time city prosecutor”; and
WHEREAS, California Health and Safety Code Section 1569.43 authorizes the
City Attorney to institute and conduct prosecutions for violations of state law governing
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residential care facilities for the elderly; and
WHEREAS, California Health and Safety Code Section 25191.2 authorizes the
City Attorney to bring actions to enforce violations of state law governing hazardous waste
control; and
WHEREAS, California Government Code Section 41803.7 provides that whenever
a “city attorney is acting as a prosecutor in a criminal case pursuant to any provision of
law or under a city charter, the city attorney shall have the power to issue subpoenas in
a like manner as the district attorney”; and
WHEREAS, the California Court of Appeal has recognized in California Restaurant
Association v. Henning (1985) and City and County of San Francisco v. Uber
Technologies, Inc. (2019) that “the use of subpoenas as an investigatory tool is an
accepted and established part of the administrative process”; and
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court has held in United States v. Morton
Salt Company (1950) that an administrative inquiry will be enforced if “(1) it relates to an
inquiry which the administrative agency is authorized to make; (2) seeks information
reasonably relevant to that inquiry; and (3) is not too indefinite .”
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NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 2.32.040 is hereby added to
read as follows:
2.32.040 City Attorney Investigative Authority
(a)In investigating any matter where the City Charter, an ordinance of the
City, state law, or federal law grants to the City Attorney the duty or power to
investigate, enforce, or prosecute a matter, the City Attorney shall have the power to:
(1)Inspect, upon reasonable notice, all documents, physical materials,
and other items required to be maintained under any provision of the
Government Code or this Municipal Code;
(2)Issue subpoenas for the attendance and testimony of witnesses,
and the production of documents, physical materials, and other items;
(3)Issue written interrogatories;
(4)Administer oaths and affirmations and take evidence;
(5)Petition a court of competent jurisdiction to compel the attendance
and testimony of witnesses, the answering of written interrogatories, and the
production of documents, physical items, and other items.
The City Attorney may exercise these powers prior to or following the filing of any civil,
criminal, or administrative action.
(b)The City Attorney shall determine and establish the form of the subpoena
issued pursuant to this section.
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(c)Destruction or concealment of items requested pursuant to a subpoena
issued under this section shall constitute a misdemeanor and shall be punishable as set
forth in Section 1.08.010 of this Code.
SECTION 2. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 2.32.050 is hereby retitled as
follows:
2.32.050 Form of City Council subpoena.
SECTION 3. Any provision of the Municipal Code or appendices thereto
inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent of such inconsistencies
and no further, is hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary to effect the
provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 4. 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 competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of th e 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 without regard to whether any portion of the ordinance
would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 5. 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
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newspaper within 15 days after its adoption. This Ordinance shall become effective 30
days from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
_______________________
LANE DILG
City Attorney
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Approved and adopted this 22nd day of October, 2019.
_____________________________
G l e a m D a v i s , M a y o r
State of California )
County of Los Angeles ) ss.
City of Santa Monica )
I, Denise Anderson-Warren, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do
hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance No. 2620 (CCS) had its
introduction on September 24, 2019 and was adopted at the Santa Monica City
Council meeting held on October 22, 2019, by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Morena, McKeown, Himmelrich, Winterer, Jara,
Mayor Pro Tem O’Day, Mayor Davis
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ATTEST:
_____________________________________ _________________
Denise Anderson-Warren, City Clerk Date
A summary of Ordinance No. 2620 (CCS) was duly published pursuant
to California Government Code Section 40806.
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11/21/2019