City of Marina v. BD. OF TRUSTEES OF CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY

Lombardo & Gilles, Sheri L. Damon, Law Offices of Robert Wellington, Kenneth D. Buchert, Monterey, Law Offices of Mary L. Hudson, Mary L. Hudson, for the Respondents: City of Marina et al.

Fort Ord, once the largest military base on the West Coast of the United States closed in the early 1990's creating economic difficulty for adjacent cities. In 1994 the Legislature passed the Fort Ord Reuse Authority Act, called "the FORA Act" to finance and construct public facilities and uses on the old army base. The members of FORA are, among others, the County of Monterey and the cities of Monterey, Salinas, Carmel, Marina and Pacific Grove. Off campus traffic and fire improvements have been sought by way of an administrative writ proceeding under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) [1] on the Board of Trustees of the California State University (the Trustees) for its campus at Monterey (the University). The Trustees have refused to pay for those services claiming to do so would violate its duties under the Constitution and would constitute a gift of public funds. It has agreed to pay for statutorily authorized, sewage and water facilities, but not anything…