Elk Grove seeks dismissal of Attorney General's Oak Rose affordable housing lawsuit calling it moot
On May 2, attorneys representing the city of Elk Grove in the lawsuit initiated by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the California Department of Housing and Community Development filed papers seeking dismissal of the state's lawsuit.
The city's attorneys from Best, Best, and Kreiger's Riverside, Calif. office said in the Sacramento Superior Court filing a separate lawsuit by the developers of the Oak Rose developer had been settled. It says, "Setting aside for a moment the attributes of the Project, HCD's current Petition and position suffers from a fundamental and fatal flaw due to the fact that the Applicant has withdrawn its application for the Project."
The city's attorneys further argue, "Despite this, HCD appears to be determined to try to compel the city to ministerially approve a Project for which there is no pending Project application, and which the Applicant no longer intends to build. With the withdrawal of the Project application, the Applicant has unequivocally disavowed its intent to build the Project at the OTSPA site. HCD's case is wholly moot. An order directing the city to approve a project that will never be built by the Applicant serves no purpose."
Interestingly, the brief continues to argue that the Oak Rose project is not covered by Senate Bill 35. Signed into law in 2017 by former Governor Jerry Brown, the legislation intends to streamline the approval process for qualifying affordable housing projects.
Long Beach, Calif.-based Excelerate Housing Group sought approval for its Old Town Elk Grove Oak Rose affordable project under SB 35. Elk Grove Bobbie Singh-Allen and her city council rejected the project in July 2022 based on the counsel of city attorney Jonathan Hobbs, who said it was not eligible for approval under SB 35.
After the state and Excelerate Housing filed a lawsuit against the city, during a September 2023 city council meeting, Hobbs backpedaled and advised Singh-Allen and her city councilmen to approve the project. Singh-Allen rejected Hobbs' suggestion and instead acquiesced to a handful of anti-affordable housing activists' who pack the city council chambers with demands for the the mayor to continue fighting.
The city reached a settlement with Excelerate Housing in February that will cost Elk Grove taxpayers $10 million. The settlement, which has not been finalized, requires the supportive housing project to relocate to a previously city-owned site on Elk Grove-Florin Road that the city gave to Excelerate Housing as part of the settlement.
The attorney's general office has not responded to the city's filing. The next hearing on the matter is on July 19 in the Department 36 of Sacramento Superior Court before Judge Stephen Acquisto.
Although the state has not responded to the city's motion, through his weekly newsletters, Attorney General Bonta has continued to focus efforts on recalcitrant municipalities that have skirted compliance with that housing law, repeatedly citing Elk Grove as one of those cities.
The city's filing can be viewed below. The Attorney General's office has until July 2 to respond.
Photo by Pavel Danilyuk via Pexels
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4 comments
Why is the city paying attorneys from Riverside to represent us when we have our own crack legal staff of five attorneys, including the highest paid employee on the city's payroll, Jonathan Hobbs who makes more than $400,000 annually? He can't represent us in these matters? Then why are we paying him and his five assistant attorneys so much?
And why are we hiring attorneys from Riverside? Travel time, meals, hotels add up quickly, especially when there are four of them.
So let me make sure I understand. We have a high priced attorney and staff that gives poor legal advice which requires us to hire a team of attorneys from out of the area to represent us?
What's wrong with this picture?
Hang on Renegade, they're just getting started! The City said the zoo will have trees for the kids to climb so they can see the animals better. Now we will have to hire a zoo attorney to handle the injury lawsuits!
Here is my opinion: Jonathan Hobbs may be an officer of the Court, but he couldn't find his way to a courtroom if his life depended on it. He continues to milk Elk Grove taxpayers for his lucrative salary. I am sure Hobbs is laughing all the way to the bank.
However, the real blame lies with the Elk Grove City Council. Three to hire and three to fire. How many does it take to hold Hobbs accountable for his bad lawyering at the taxpayers' expense?
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