Case Summary

P0750 In an action seeking to require city employees to certify and file an initiative passed by the voters, the city's cross complaint for a judgment declaring that the initiative need not be certified and filed because it is unconstitutional arose either from the passing of the initiative or from the filing of the initial action, both of which were exercises of the right of petition, so the SLAPP statute applies to the cross-complaint; since the statutory requirement that the city certify and file the initiative calls for the performance of a ministerial act, it does not depend on the constitutionality of the initiative, so the city will not be able to make out a prima facie case, and the cross-complaint should be stricken in response to a SLAPP motion; appeal from denial of a SLAPP motion stays further proceedings in the trial court, making the subsequent grant of summary judgment invalid; a party's intellectual interest in the outcome does not prevent the award to it of fees as a private attorney general.

CITY OF SANTA MONICA v STEWART (Initiative Certification) 126 CA4 43 [See: GovC 34460; CCP 916, 425.16, 1021.5; Selinger v City Council 216 CA3 259; Equilon v Consumer Cause 29 C4 53, T/AT 10/02; Mattel v Luce, Forward ... 99 CA4 1179, T/AT 8/02; Varian v Delfino (RevGrtd) 113 CA4 273, T/AT 12/03; Hewlett v Squaw Valley 54 CA4 499]