DEGRASSI

CHARLES S. VOGEL, P.J.

Plaintiff and appellant Christine Degrassi, a former member of the Glendora City Council, sued defendants and respondents Sue Bauer, Albert Fishman, and Marshall Mouw, also members of the Glendora City Council, Arthur Cook, the City Manager, and Glendora Chief of Police, Paul Butler (the city defendants). In addition, she named the law firm of Burke, Williams and Sorensen as a defendant in its capacity as city attorney ("the law firm").

Degrassi's first amended complaint alleges in extensive detail that the city and law firm defendants excluded her from council meetings, deprived her of notice of meetings, denied her access to information, and generally discouraged, obstructed, and interfered with her participation as a city council person. A full explication of her pleading is simply unnecessary. In summary, Degrassi pleaded that the defendants' conduct was in "violation of her rights to Free Expression under Article I, Section 2 of the California Constitution, and a [second] related cause of action for civil conspiracy." [1] The first amended complaint also purports to allege a third cause of action against the law firm for punitive damages for…