City of Redlands | Michael Reiter, Municipal Attorney with Milligan, Attorney, Beswick, Levine & Knox LLP Blog

Filed under City of Redlands, Uncategorized Tagged with City of Redlands, Redlands City Hall

Former Assistant City Attorney Michael Reiter Eyes Council Seat – Redlands Daily Facts

December 20, 2014 Leave a comment

Today, the Redlands Daily Facts published an article on my application to be the next Redlands City Council Member. The story is here.

Milligan, Beswick, Levine & Knox, LLP

A: 1447 Ford St. #201

Redlands, CA 92374

T: (909) 296-6708

E: mreiter@mblklaw.org

Filed under City of Redlands Tagged with City of Redlands

The Relationship Between the City Manager and the City Attorney in California

July 27, 2011 2 Comments

I have worked in three cities: I was a clerk in the City of Santa Clara in an in-house City Attorney’s Office of a charter city with an appointed City Attorney; I was a Deputy City Attorney in the City of San Bernardino, with an elected City Attorney, and I was the Assistant City Attorney of the City of Redlands, a general law city with an in-house appointed City Attorney. There was only one City Attorney and City Manager for the City of Santa Clara during my tenure, only one City Attorney and one City Administrator transformed by a charter change to City Manager in San Bernardino, yet there were two City Managers and one interim City Manager during my time as an Assistant City Attorney in Redlands. In Redlands and San Bernardino, the same City Attorneys reign still, and the City Attorney of Santa Clara, Mike Downey only retired within the last decade after decades of service.

Typically, the relationship in a general law city between the City Attorney and the City Manager is that they are both appointed by the Council, and subject to removal by the Council. That means they have similar interests. Typically, both the City Attorney and the City Manager have to keep the Council happy and do their respective jobs, and only rarely will they be on the opposite side of any issue. In the best situations, the City Attorney can assist the City Manager in accomplishing the City Manager’s duties in accordance with municipal, state and Federal law.

In a charter city, it depends on what the Charter says, but I am not aware of any Charter that subordinates the City Attorney to the City Manager. Certainly, Santa Clara, San Bernardino and Riverside do not. Typically, the functions are separate, and the two must work together in the same way as in a general law city to meet the city’s needs, whether administratively, during budgeting and on employment matters.

An elected City Attorney, a relatively rare position, has an independent base of power granted by the electorate, subject to removal from office by regular election or recall. This can create a different dynamic between the appointed City Manager and the elected City Attorney, because their interests are not necessarily the same.

The information you obtain at this blog is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is established by reading or commenting on this blog. You should consult an attorney for advice regarding your individual situation.

A: 300 E. State St. Suite 517

Redlands, CA 92373-5235

T: (909) 708-6055

Filed under Charter, City Attorney, City Manager, City of Redlands, City of San Bernardino, Elections, General Law, Municipal Code, Municipal Law Tagged with Charter, City Attorney, City Manager, City of Redlands, City of San Bernardino, City of Santa Clara, General Law, Michael Reiter Attorney at Law

Why an In-House Public Lawyer Should Stay Out of Politics and Not Express Their Opinion if They Are Not Asked

June 29, 2011 Leave a comment

Some attorneys are very political. They donate to local, state and federal candidates. They hold fundraisers at their multi-million dollar houses (yes, even in the Inland Empire). Sometimes they are very associated with one political party or another. Some become local officials. I have no idea if this is beneficial or detrimental for their practices, firms, well-being, or pocket book.

Public lawyers, and by public lawyers I mean in-house civil attorneys, typically in an in-house City Attorney’s Office or Office of County Counsel, may have opinions but it is usually best if they do not openly express them. The entity, of course, is the client, but an entity is run by actual human beings.

As long time readers know, I was the Assistant City Attorney of the City of Redlands and a Deputy City Attorney for the City of San Bernardino, each for over four years, for a total of almost nine and a half years. The environment in each office was different. In Redlands, it was (then) a two person operation, which, for the size, workload and complexity of the organization, could have accommodated three attorneys. The City Attorney was and is appointed by the City Council. A majority of a Council quorum can remove the City Attorney, subject to the City Attorney’s agreement with the Council. That is a different kind of political environment from the City of San Bernardino.

The City of San Bernardino, with an elected City Attorney, elections every two years, with charter fights, was a Politically-charged entity. By “Politically,” with a capital P, I mean municipal election politics. While the employees of that office felt the secondary effects of the political winds, I was always allowed to do my job. Certainly, when someone aims for the elected City Attorney, sometimes they hit a deputy. But for the most part, the Mayor and Common Council, and the staff of the City viewed me, as a Deputy, as a non-c0mbatant. Humorously, they sometimes treated me as if I were a victim of an evil regime.

People sometimes interpreted, when I was a prosecutor, that I was personally prosecuting people because I was a supporter of whatever ordinance I was prosecuting. No, I was doing my duty to enforce the rules made by the policy makers. If there was a problem with a particular rule, a political solution needed to be forged to change the rule. That political solution was not one that I, as a Deputy City Attorney or the Assistant City Attorney, was going to be a part of, unless I was directed to draft an ordinance by the City Attorney.

Obviously, a wise public lawyer has to fit into the inter-office politics in the in-house environment. That’s not what I am talking about, and that’s the same in any office with more than one person. The public lawyer must be political in that sense.

Similarly, as an independent attorney, I do not hold any particular positions on the subjects that I write about. Even if I am recounting my past actions, I did the things I did because it was my job to do them, because they benefited my public entity client, and it was at the direction of the political decision-makers of the entity. I was never asked to do anything that was unethical, and even if I were asked to do something unethical, I would not do it. However, very seldom does the public entity practitioner reach the bounds of the California Rules of Professional Conduct.

For example, someone thought I had a position on allowing Food Trucks in San Bernardino County. I do not have a personal opinion on the subject. If a small business retains me to represent them on the subject, my opinion is the same as the client. I give advice in a neutral fashion, the pluses and minuses of any particular situation. However, the best interest of the client must be kept in mind at all times.

A: 1255 W. Colton Ave. Suite 104, Redlands, CA 92374

T: (909) 708-6055

E: michael@michaelreiterlaw.com

Filed under City of Redlands, City of Riverside, City of San Bernardino, Food, Law Practice Management, Municipal Code, Municipal Law, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Bernardino Municipal Code, Small Business Law Tagged with City Attorney's Office, City of Redlands, City of San Bernardino, Michael Reiter Attorney at Law, San Bernardino Municipal Code

Front Yard Fruit Stands in Redlands, California

June 24, 2011 2 Comments

I am a native of the Inland Empire and some of my earliest memories are of Redlands, from the San Bernardino County Museum, to field trips to Kimberly Crest, and attending meetings in the Assembly Room of the A.K. Smiley Public Library. I learned much more about Redlands as Assistant City Attorney from January 2006 to June 2010. My office as a private attorney is in Redlands.

You can’t really know a city until you have walked its streets, particularly its residential areas. One of the perksof street level exploration of a city (other than noticing the infrastructure) is finding little gems. One of the things that gives Redlands its character is its history in agriculture, not just being the Washington Navel Orange capital of the world, but appreciating the still-large amount of active agriculture. In addition to active agriculture, there are backyard remnants of groves and other fruit trees. If you drive around Redlands, you can find many front yard fruit stands. You can find a story on this phenomenon in the Press-Enterprise article published on March 5, 2010 titled “Citrus Sales are part of the tradition of Redlands, nothing beats fresh” by Jan Sears and Darrell R. Santschi. As of the writing of this post, it is available online. I am not going to link to it because newspaper links break very easily.

For example pomegranates grow very well in Redlands. And even though they are very expensive in supermarkets, you can pick them up at some front yard fruit stands.
I know of no guide to these fruit stands. As I discover their exact location, I will post their block location and produce. I do not want to give exact locations, because the people providing the service are doing a great the public a favor, and if the Press-Enterprise story is any indication, running the stands is a hassle. If anyone with a stand wants to make a comment, or grant me permission to put an exact location, I will publish it below. If anyone does not want to be included, let me know as well.

A: 300 E. State St. #517 Redlands CA 92373-5235

T: (909) 708-6055

Filed under City of Redlands, City of San Bernardino, Code Enforcement, County of San Bernardino, Food, Land Use Tagged with agriculture, City of Oakland, City of Redlands, City of San Bernardino, Code Enforcement, County of San Bernardino, Inland Empire, Land Use, pocket farm

Is the City of Redlands a General Law City or a Charter City?

June 8, 2011 Leave a comment

I get some of my post ideas through queries that are listed in my site’s statistics section. The title of this post, Is the City of Redlands a General Law City or a Charter City, is well-within my expertise to answer because I was the Assistant City Attorney of the City of Redlands from 2006 to mid-2010. The answer is the City of Redlands is a general law city. Redlands has never been a charter city, and I don’t think the issue has ever been put to the voters.

As Assistant City Attorney of the City of Redlands, I would sometimes search documents in the City Clerk’s Office for cases or matters. The City of Redlands itself had a slightly different form of government until the 1940s, with a Board of Trustees instead of a City Council, but I think that had to do with how cities were organized under California law at the time.

A: 1255 W. Colton Ave. Suite 104, Redlands, CA 92374

T: (909) 708-6055

Filed under City of Redlands, City of San Bernardino, Municipal Law, San Bernardino County Tagged with City Charter, City of Redlands, General Law City, Michael Reiter Attorney at Law, Redlands charter-city

Inspection Warrant and Abatement Warrant Requirements for Inspecting Private Property in San Bernardino County, California

May 10, 2011 2 Comments

Do code enforcement officers need a warrant to inspect private property in San Bernardino County (including incorporated cities and towns in San Bernardino)? The best practice is to obtain an administrative warrant if the owner/occupant refuses consent to inspect. Generally, an administrative warrant is not needed if the conditions can be observed from the public right-of-way, or an adjoining property (with permission), and no physical entry onto the property occurs.

When I was a Deputy City Attorney for the City of San Bernardino, California and the Assistant City Attorney for the City of Redlands, California, a good deal of my time was spent on code enforcement. Both cities emphasized the need for a warrant to inspect and/or abate private property when permission to inspect was denied. As a private attorney representing private citizens and business entities, some other Inland Empire cities are not as respectful of citizen’s constitutional rights.

Generally, if consent from the property owner and the occupant cannot be obtained before entering private property that is not open to the public, code enforcement officers should obtain an administrative inspection/abatement warrant from the San Bernardino County Superior Court. Because the United States Constitution’s Fourth Amendment gives property owners and other occupants an expectation of privacy, an inspection warrant is needed.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in Connor v. Santa Ana, held that police officers could not legally enter fenced, private property to abate a nuisance without a warrant, even though the property owner had been provided with extensive administrative hearings. In the absence of a property owner’s and occupant’s consent, barring exigent (emergency) circumstances, government officials engaged in the inspection of private property or abatement of a public nuisance must have a warrant to enter that private property where such entry would invade a constitutionally protected privacy interest.

The Fourth Amendment provides a high degree of privacy protection to the “curtilage” of a residence, the land immediately surrounding and associated with the residence. However, the United States Constitution allows authorities to inspect open fields at will. The “open fields” exception only applies to completely unfenced, unimproved property.

Therefore, code enforcement officers may visually inspect private property from the public right-of-way, or from areas that are open to the public such as parking lots, or from private property upon which the officers have obtained consent from the property owner and/or the occupant, depending on the factual circumstances.

A: 300 E. State St., Suite 517

Redlands, CA 92373-5235

T: (909) 296-6708

Filed under 42 United States Code section 1983, Administrative Warrant, City of Highland, City of Redlands, City of Riverside, City of San Bernardino, Land Use, Land Use, Land Use Law, Municipal Code, Municipal Law, Real Property Law, San Bernardino Superior Court Tagged with Administrative Warrant, City of Redlands, City of San Bernardino, Civil Rights, Fourth Amendement, Inspeciton, Inspection Warrant, Property

What Riverside County and San Bernardino County Public Entities Should Do To Promote Open Government

April 18, 2011 Leave a comment

I have worked for three California cities: The City of Santa Clara when I was in law school, the City of San Bernardino as a Deputy City Attorney and as the Assistant City Attorney for the City of Redlands. Each City was different: Santa Clara is a full-service charter law Northern California city (including its own electric utility) with an in-house City Attorney’s Office. San Bernardino is a full-service charter law Southern California City with an elected city attorney. Redlands is a full-service general law city with an in-house City Attorney’s Office. Since I have started my own firm, I have seen California’s good government laws from a different perspective. Some cities use the California Public Records Act as a shield, instead of fulfilling the transparency requirements of the Act. Some cities see the Public Records Act as burden because of the rare cases of alleged abuse.

Based on my more than a decade experience in municipal law, I make the following recommendations to Inland Empire cities, towns, counties, special districts, school districts, and water districts:

1. Have an open government or specifically a California Public Records Act section on your website.

2. Archive your minutes, agendas and agenda reports online in an easily searched database (good) or make the files available to search engine robots (better).

3. Post the things that most people care about online such as employee salaries, pension information, agreements, Fair Political Practices Commission Form 700s. If anything needs to be redacted, or can be redacted under the California Public Records Act, it can be done. Posting this information online will both provide transparency to the public and keep staff from having to respond to different requests for the same information.

4. Let the public know how to make California Public Records Act requests on your website, and train staff regarding their obligations under the Act. Provide an online and printable form for records.

Today, I searched the City of Riverside’s website for “Public Records Act.” What were the top results? This verbiage on Council agendas: “SPEAKER CARDS–If you wish to address the City Council please complete and submit a speaker card to the City Clerk before the scheduled meeting time. Speaker cards can be found at the east entrance to the City Council Chamber and City Hall lobby. Speaker cards will be accepted until the agenda item is called. In accordance with the Public Records Act, any information you provide on this form is available to the public.” Here, they are using the Public Records Act as a club: They are warning that if you put information on a speaker card for a City Council meeting, it is a public record.

I also searched the City of San Bernardino’s site today. The results were more disappointing then those in Riverside. There was only one mention of the Public Records Act, in the site’s disclaimer and privacy policy.

Cities need to stop making the process so adversarial. Yes, Public Records Act requests take time and money. However, with out residents, most cities and other local governments would be out of business. Elected officials need to realize that keeping residents happy is in their best interest, and making Public Records Act requests is in the best interest of their entities.

A: 300 E. State St., Suite 517

Redlands, CA 92373-5235

T: (909) 296-6708

Filed under California Public Records Act, Municipal Law, San Bernardino, San Bernardino County Tagged with City of Redlands, City of Riverside, City of San Bernardino, Santa Clara

Growing and selling crops and agricultural products in Inland Empire Cities

April 1, 2011 2 Comments

The San Francisco Chronicle has a story today on page A-1 about a property owner who has a pocket farm in Oakland. The City of Oakland says that she needs a Conditional Use Permit to continue to sell her produce and livestock-derived food. According to the same article, the City and County of San Francisco has already created new ordinances to deal with the urban farming trend in the Bay Area.

The Inland Empire has a rich history of agriculture, and unlike Oakland, still has agriculture. According to the California Department of Agriculture, of California’s 58 counties, Riverside County was the 12th largest farm county in California in 2007, slipping to 13th in 2008. Riverside’s crops were valued at $1,268,590,000. The leading commodities for Riverside County in 2008 were nursery stock, milk, eggs, table grapes and hay. San Bernardino County was the 17th largest farm county in California in 2007, slipping to 20th in 2008. That probably is largely due to the dairies leaving Chino and South Ontario. San Bernardino County’s crops were valued at $547,158,000 in 2008. The leading commodities that year were milk, eggs, cattle and calves, replacement heifers and trees and shrubs.

By 2009, San Bernardino County had fallen to 25th out of 58 counties, with total production down to $355,379,000, with alfalfa becoming a top crop. The march of urbanization made a significant dent in just two years. The recession was probably the only thing preventing more losses. Much prime agricultural land has been converted into housing.

When I was Assistant City Attorney for the City of Redlands, there was still significant agriculture in the City. Some parts of the City and areas within the City’s sphere of influence were zoned agricultural. In the A-1 Agricultural zone (one of a number of zones where agriculture is allowed by right) in Redlands, allows agricultural uses (only part of the section is quoted below, as shown by the ellipses):

“Apiaries, provided that no hives or boxes housing bees are kept closer than three hundred feet (300′) from any dwelling other than that occupied by the owner of the apiary;

Farms or ranches for the grazing, breeding or raising of not more than two (2) horses, cattle, goats or sheep per acre. . . .

Orchards, groves, nurseries, the raising of field crops, tree crops, berry crops, bush crops, truck gardening and commercial flower growing;. . . The sale of fruit, vegetables, produce, flowers and other similar products grown on the property; provided, however, that roadside stands used for such sales shall not exceed five hundred (500) square feet.” Redlands Municipal Code section 18.20.030. Other zones allow produce stands, either explicitly, or by reference to other zones.

In San Bernardino, where I was a Deputy City Attorney, there are only remnants of agriculture. If you have a fast connection, or some spare time, you can find San Bernardino’s zoning map. According to the City of San Bernadino’s Development Code, San Bernardino Municipal Code section 19.08.o20, agricultural production-crops, is allowed, subject to a development permit in the IH (Industrial Heavy) and IE (Industrial Extractive) zones. Like the City of Oakland, agricultural uses are allowed in almost every residential zone in San Bernardino (except RSH, Residential Student Housing) with a Conditional Use Permit. San Bernardino Municipal Code section 19.04.020. “Agriculture” is defined as the ” use of land for farming, dairying, pasteurizing and grazing, horticulture, floriculture, viticulture, apiaries, animal and poultry husbandry, and accessory activities, including, but not limited to storage, harvesting, feeding or maintenance of equipment excluding stockyards, slaughtering or commercial food processing.” San Bernardino Municipal Code section 19.02.050. It is not immediately clear if that includes a produce stand. That would probably be subject to the development permit or conditional use permit process.

The common sense advice is to check with your city, or if you are in an unincorporated area, Riverside or San Bernardino County before you start your mini-farm. Also, there are other issues out there, such as legal non-conforming uses, non-zoning issues such as the keeping of animals, the need for a business registration certificate or a business license if you’re selling your produce or animal products, the possibility of County Health inspections and permits. As with anything, you should get legal advice before starting instead of facing a citation or a lawsuit alleging nuisance. If you find yourself in trouble, find an attorney versed in land use or code enforcement, or both, depending on your situation.

Update 4/22/2011 The Mayor and Common Council had this agenda item on the 4/18/2011 meeting agenda. According to the summary, the matter was sent to the Legislative Review Committee to review the proposal to allow food carts, coffee carts and vegetable stands.

Update 5/14/2012 The City of San Bernardino Mayor and Common Council passed MC-1363 in August 2011, changing the transient vendor ordinance 5.04.495, to have an exception to allow food carts as allowed by the Development Code, 19.70.060(1) which says “food carts and produce stands may be permitted for one year initially, and renewed annually, subject to verification of compliance with conditions of approval and County permit requirements, as applicable.” 19.70.020(11) states that temporary uses, subject to a Temporary Use Permit, including “Food carts, operated at fixed, pre-approved locations, in the Main Street Overlay District, at least 500 feet away from any restaurant and under current permits from the County Environmental Health Services Division.” SBDC section 19.70.020(12) also allows produce stands in community gardens.

A: 300 E. State St., Suite 517

Redlands, CA 92373-5235

T: (909) 296-6708