Graffiti Protective Coatings, Inc. v. City of Pico Rivera

—Through competitive bidding, plaintiff was awarded a municipal contract to maintain a city’s bus stops. Four years later, the city terminated the contract as permitted. Without inviting competitive bids, the city entered into a new contract with one of plaintiff’s competitors. Plaintiff filed this action, seeking a writ of mandate and declaratory relief to invalidate the new contract and to compel the city to award the contract through competitive bidding.

In response, the city filed a special motion to strike, contending that the action was a “strategic lawsuit against public participation” (SLAPP) (Code Civ. Proc., § 425.16, subd. (b)(1); all further statutory references are to that code unless otherwise indicated). The trial court granted the motion, reasoning that the maintenance of the city’s bus stops was an issue of public interest and plaintiff was not likely to prevail on the merits of its claims. Under the anti-SLAPP statute, the city was entitled to an award of attorney fees, which the trial court fixed at over $24,000. (See § 425.16, subd. (c).)

We conclude that, even if plaintiff’s claims involve a public issue, they are not based on any statement,…