Court Opinion

ID: 9745996
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 13:48:42.613649+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:26:09.450184
License: Public Domain

TURNER, P. J., Concurring.
I concur that the burden of showing the fifth through seventh causes of action in the second amended cross-complaint has minimal merit never shifted to cross-complainant, USA Waste of California, Inc., but on slightly different grounds than my colleagues.
To begin with, the issuance of the violation notice is a written statement made in connection with an executive proceeding and an official proceeding within the meaning of Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16, subdivision (e)(1).1 In addition, the violation notice is a written statement made in *67connection with an issue under consideration before an executive body or an official proceeding. (§ 425.16, subd. (e)(2).) Here, we need not discuss constitutional free expression or petition issues. This case involves the statutorily enumerated first prong grounds in section 425.16, subdivision (e)(1) and (2). And the special motion to strike remedy applies equally to public entities. (Vargas v. City of Salinas (2009) 46 Cal.4th 1, 18 [92 Cal.Rptr.3d 286, 205 P.3d 207] [“Section 425.16, subdivision (e) does not purport to draw any distinction between (1) statements by private individuals or entities that are made in the designated contexts or with respect to the specified subjects, and (2) statements by governmental entities or public officials acting in their official capacity that are made in these same contexts or with respect to these same subjects. Although there may be some ambiguity in the statutory language, section 425.16, subdivision (e) is most reasonably understood as providing that the statutory phrase in question includes all such statements, without regard to whether the statements are made by private individuals or by governmental entities or officials.” (italics omitted)]; San Ramon Valley Fire Protection Dist. v. Contra Costa County Employees’ Retirement Assn. (2004) 125 Cal.App.4th 343, 353 [22 Cal.Rptr.3d 724] [“We have no doubt that a public official or government body, just like any private litigant, may make [a special motion to strike] where appropriate.”].)
Thus, if the second amended cross-complaint sought relief in the causes of action directed at the city because it acted inappropriately in issuing or enforcing the violation notice, the burden would shift to cross-complainant to make its minimal merits showing under section 425.16, subdivision (b)(2). But, as my colleagues note, the gravamen of the three challenged causes of action is not the issuance of the violation notice. The second amended cross-complaint alleges: on June 1, 2007, the City of Irwindale (the city) issued the violation notice; the violation notice misstates the compaction rate required to make the pit suitable for commercial use; the violation notice does not provide a right of appeal; outside counsel, rather than the city, issued the violation notice, which was a questionable legal action; after the violation notice was issued, a hearing request was deferred; after cross-complainant submitted a work plan in response to the violation notice, the city agreed to defer enforcement of the violation notice; and the city has never sought to enforce the cease and desist portions of the violation notice. Plaintiff, Irwindale Partners, had sued cross-complainant for declaratory relief concerning their obligations. The second amended cross-complaint alleges: “Since the issues raised by [plaintiff] are inextricably intertwined with the issues raised *68in the [violation notice, cross-complainant] filed the Cross-Complaint in this action alleging, among other things, causes of action for Declaratory Relief, Breach of Contract, and Equitable Estoppel against the City concerning the issues and allegations set forth in the [violation notice].” Cross-complainant alleges its claims were preserved notwithstanding the fact the city held the violation notice in abeyance. In terms of the failure to file a government claim, cross-complainant alleges the city was estopped to assert any statute of limitations because of the negotiations over the parties’ rights and obligations raised by the violation notice.
The first cause of action in the second amended cross-complaint against plaintiff seeks declaratory relief. The issue that required a declaration of rights was who (plaintiff or cross-complainant) was to pay for the testing, investigation and remediation required by the city “in connection” with the violation notice. Further, the first cause of action seeks a declaration of rights “in connection” with the lease between plaintiff and cross-complainant and the violation notice. The second cause of action against plaintiff seeks contract breach damages “as a result” of the issuance of the violation notice. The third and fourth causes of action against plaintiff seek rescission and termination of the lease and damages because of the mistake of fact as to the required compaction rate and related impracticality of performance.
All of these allegations are incorporated into the fifth through seventh causes of action against the city which seek: declaratory relief concerning the standstill agreement; contract breach as to the standstill agreement; and equitable estoppel as it relates to the reclamation plan and the standstill agreement. Not a single word appears in the fifth through seventh causes of action concerning the violation notice. Cross-complainant seeks no damages from the city nor seeks any declaration of rights because of the violation notice. No doubt, material allegations in the first through fourth causes of action against plaintiff discuss damages and contractual uncertainty which result from the violation notice. And the first through fourth causes of action seek relief based in material part upon the issuance of the violation notice. But the issues before us involve the claims against the city and the language in the fifth through seventh causes of action does not challenge the violation notice. The issue is extremely close especially in the context of a liberally construed remedy. (§ 425.16, subd. (a); California Back Specialists Medical Group v. Rand (2008) 160 Cal.App.4th 1032, 1036 [73 Cal.Rptr.3d 268].) But since the fifth through seventh causes of action in the second amended cross-complaint seek no relief against the city by reason of issuance of the violation notice, I agree with the trial court and my colleagues that the gravamen of the causes of action against the city is the compaction rate and related environmental and contract-based disputes, not the violation notice. Thus, the burden never shifted to cross-complainant to show the fifth through *69seventh causes of action have minimal merit. In this respect, when the case is tried against the city, service of the violation notice is not a material issue for resolution or a basis for a damage claim except as it relates to statute of limitations issues which are not the gravamen of the fifth through seventh causes of action.
Appellant’s petition for review by the Supreme Court was denied July 14, 2010, S183348.

 All future statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure. Section 425.16, subdivision (e)(1) and (2) states: “As used in this section, ‘act in furtherance of a person’s right of petition or free speech under the United States or California Constitution in connection with a public issue’ includes: (1) any written or oral statement or writing made before a legislative, executive, or judicial proceeding, or any other official proceeding authorized by law; (2) any *67written or oral statement or writing made in connection with an issue under consideration or review by a legislative, executive, or judicial body, or any other official proceeding authorized by law . . . .”