Unbeknownst to the public, Santa Cruz joins lawsuit against the Trump administration
The City of Santa Cruz has joined a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its threats to withhold federal resources from sanctuary cities. Originally filed by attorneys representing Santa Clara County and San Francisco, the suit claims the administration’s attempts to force local jurisdictions into compliance with its immigration policies are unconstitutional.
Santa Cruz is part of a larger coalition of jurisdictions backing the lawsuit, which includes Sacramento; San Jose; Oakland; Seattle; Portland, Oregon; Monterey County; and St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
As someone who pays attention to local government affairs, hearing this news last week surprised me. Surely, the Santa Cruz City Council, elected by residents to decide how and in which direction the city moves, would have had to vote on whether to put the city’s name on this lawsuit.
Yet, there is no public record of the city council voting to join this specific lawsuit. According to city attorney Tony Condotti, the vote occurred at the Feb. 11 meeting — the same meeting where the city council reaffirmed its commitment to its sanctuary city policy — behind closed doors during an executive session. This is not uncommon: The law allows — but, importantly, does not require — city councils to discuss, and even vote to join, litigation away from public view; it’s part of the power voters bestow upon their elected representatives.
The curious part here was that, unlike other closed-session topics, this lawsuit was not on the agenda — Condotti asked the council, mid-meeting, to add it at the last minute. Then, even after the vote was taken, the city offered no information to the public about the lawsuit. When the city council returned from closed session, Condotti announced that the city council voted to join the litigation, but offered no details, only that “the particulars of that litigation will be available upon request by members of the public when the pleadings are filed.” The original lawsuit had already been filed on Feb. 7.
This isn’t to say anything illegal or nefarious took place. It sometimes happens that last-minute items are added to the city council agenda, and our elected representatives retain the power to join or initiate lawsuits, and vote on them in closed session — as Condotti told me over the phone last week, “That’s how it works.”
However, all of these tiny, innocuous factors add up to a public unnecessarily left in the dark about the dealings of a government supposedly working for them. In a small way, it reminds me of a quote I recently read from the late federal judge Damon Keith, who presided over the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.
“When government begins closing doors, it selectively controls information rightfully belonging to the people. Selective information is misinformation,” Keith wrote in one of his more famous opinions. “Democracies die behind closed doors.”
As far as the merits of the lawsuit go, San Francisco won a similar lawsuit in 2018 after an appeals court ruled that the city’s sanctuary policies were legal and the federal government could not withhold funds because of it.
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OF NOTE
Another lawsuit over the Moss Landing battery fire: Last week, the owners of the Moss Landing staple Haute Enchilada Cafe filed a lawsuit against Texas-based Vistra Corp. for the toxic fire that erupted at its battery plant in January, forcing the evacuation of more than 1,200 people. The lawsuit alleges known design flaws in the facility helped exacerbate the blaze.
Battery brooding grows: The fire at the Moss Landing battery facility has thrown new light, or perhaps shade, over a battery storage facility proposed just outside of Watsonville. The project cannot move forward without approval from the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors. Last week, although the issue wasn’t agendized, residents from across the county descended upon the supervisors’ meeting to urge the local lawmakers to place a moratorium on new battery storage facilities.
POINTS FOR PARTICIPATION
More town halls on the rail trail? The Coastal Rail Trail has perhaps been the single-most-discussed and -debated public project of the past decade in Santa Cruz County. And now, in order to finalize a project concept report, the county’s Regional Transportation Commission has decided the project needs further discussion and debate. The concept report, which was expected to be published in the first part of this year, lays out the project’s vision, with firm ideas of track layout and train stop locations. The RTC has pushed back publishing the report until fall.
On Tuesday, at 6 p.m. at New Brighton Middle School in Capitola, the RTC will host a town hall about rail and trail Segments 10 and 11, as well as mobile home encroachments. Next week, March 12, the agency will host a virtual info session related to bridge infrastructure at 6 p.m. The Zoom link can be found here.
ONE GREAT WATCH
Berkeley Repertory Theater’s production of “Uncle Vanya” by Anton Chekov
My appreciation of the great Russian playwright Anton Chekov first arrived via the side door, through an examination of his short stories in George Saunders’ book “A Swim in a Pond in the Rain.” Saunders, one of my favorite contemporary authors and — more importantly — a Corralitos resident, holds an X-ray to a collection of short stories from the most famous of 19th-century Russia’s literati — Chekov, Turgenev, Tolstoy. I knew Tolstoy well, and could do without Turgenev (gasp!), but Chekov was new and mesmerizing. His realist approach fits so much truth within simple and straightforward language. To a journalist, this is the pinnacle of achievement.
On Sunday, I was lucky enough to find a ticket to Berkeley Rep’s production of one of Chekov’s most famous plays, “Uncle Vanya.” I’ve written about this play here before, highlighting a New Yorker profile of stage director Lila Neugebauer and her effort to bring the play back to Broadway. It’s difficult to imagine the Broadway version, even with the star power of Steve Carell playing the titular role, outdoing the Berkeley production. At once hilarious and tragic, I am still thinking about the questions Chekov’s characters raise about time, money, relationships, aging and desire. If you get a chance to catch the play before it closes on March 23, take advantage. You will not be disappointed.