Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Court Hears Argument on Secrecy Case

The state Supreme Court on Wednesday heard an hour of oral argument on a widely watched Palmdale case likely to determine statewide what right citizens have to written advice sent to public agencies, such as cities, by their attorneys.

The high court is expected to decide within several months whether to uphold a state Court of Appeal ruling in June that found Palmdale had violated the state’s open meetings law by refusing to publicly disclose a city attorney’s memo on a development project.

During Wednesday’s session, the state attorney general’s office argued that such written communications are private under the attorney-client privilege unless the public agency receiving the advice decides to release it. A law firm representing Palmdale made a similar but narrower argument.

But an attorney for Palmdale homeowner Charmaine Roberts, who sued the city in 1989 after city officials refused to release the city attorney’s memo, argued such documents should be public unless they involve likely or existing litigation. The American Civil Liberties Union joined her case.

The case arose when the Palmdale City Council approved plans for a land split to permit an AM-PM Mini Market that Roberts opposed. Plans for the project lapsed during the lawsuit and it was never built. But the fight over the city attorney’s memo has became a statewide issue.

Last year the appeal court, in ordering Palmdale to release the memo, ruled that the city could not claim it was protected by privilege after the council had discussed the issue in public. But hundreds of public agencies throughout the state sought and got the high court to review the decision.

The high court gave no clear sense of how it will rule. But several justices questioned why the memo should be released. In particular, Justice Armand Arabian suggested that the recourse for citizens who don’t like the way elected officials behave is to “throw the rascals out.”

Jenifer Warren reported from San Francisco and John Chandler from Palmdale.