McKinley

The City Council of the City of San Diego petitioned the superior court for a writ of mandamus against the city manager and the city auditor and comptroller seeking to compel the execution of an agreement with the landscape architectural firm of Wimmer, Yamada, Iwanaga & Associates (WYI). The agreement which had been approved by the city council called for the preparation of the design of a Japanese garden to be located in Balboa Park, owned by the city. The city manager had determined, on advice of the city attorney, that since Joseph Y. Yamada, president and stockholder of WYI was a member of the Park and Recreation Board (Board) of the city, the execution of such a contract would be contrary to the city charter and a conflict of interest for Yamada. The superior court denied the petition for the writ of mandamus holding such a contract would be void.

The parties stipulated to a detailed statement of facts and there was no evidence offered except as contained in the stipulation. We will summarize the contents of the stipulation in order to present the setting for this opinion.

On November 8, 1966, the electorate of the City of San Diego approved a bond issue…