As reported here and here, the City of Half Moon Bay, California is going to appeal the $37 million federal inverse condemnation judgment to the Ninth Circuit. In the first story, the San Francisco Chronicle reports:
The Half Moon Bay CityCouncil on Tuesday night voted to hire a team of appellate lawyers andannounced it would fight a potentially ruinous federal court decisionthat orders the city to pay $36.8 million to a developer in a propertydispute.
“The City Council has decided to go forward with an appeal,” MayorBonnie McClung told a crowd of more than 70 people gathered for thecouncil’s first regular meeting since the ruling came down. “We areunited in our position at this point that this is the best course ofaction for us.”
The council voted unanimously to hire Orrick, Herrington &Sutcliffe, a San Francisco law firm that specializes in public financeand corporate law. In the same action, the panel also hired PiperJaffray, a financial firm that has worked with cities across the state,to serve as a financial adviser.
The firms will work with the council on what to do about a courtjudgment that is more than three times the coastal city’s $10 millionannual budget. The judgment, the council said in a joint statement,threatens the “very existence of our city government.”
Read the entire report here. Gideon Kanner adds his insight to the latest developments here.