Braun

Plaintiff Donald Braun (Braun) appealed from a judgment denying him attorney fees. Defendant City of Taft (City) cross-appealed. Wé affirm.

I. Factual Background

Braun was a duly elected councilman for City. As such, he investigated a perceived irregularity in the appointment of real party in interest George Polston (Polston) as transit administrator. The city manager would neither admit nor deny the appointment, so Braun requested from a city employee a copy of Polston’s salary card, which showed that Polston had been so appointed on June 25, 1979. Later, Braun requested copies of a letter dated June 25, 1979, which appointed Polston to the position of transit administrator, and a letter dated June 29, 1979, rescinding the appointment and reinstating Polston as a firefighter. Although he was permitted to review the Polston personnel file, which contained the two letters, Braun was denied copies of the letters. (He had, on his own, previously made a copy of the face side of the salary card.) He also, once again, saw the salary card, which had been modified by whiting out the appointment as transit administrator and the word “firefighter” was printed over the whited out…