Lindelli

Elections Code section 9241 provides that when an ordinance is the subject of a referendum petition, it shall not take effect until the majority of the voters voting on the referendum approve the ordinance. A municipality may not evade this stay provision by re-passing a materially identical ordinance as an interim measure until the referendum election.

In this case, respondent Town of San Anselmo awarded a waste management franchise to a new provider, respondent Marin Sanitary Service, in place of the incumbent, appellant North Bay Corporation. After opponents of the new provider obtained enough signatures to qualify a referendum on the franchise, San Anselmo accepted bids for an interim contract and then awarded Marin Sanitary Service the yearlong interim contract until the referendum election. Because this procedure violated the stay provisions of Elections Code section 9241, we reverse the trial court judgment denying a petition for a writ of mandate.

Factual and Procedural Background

From 1994 to 2002, San Anselmo Refuse & Recycling, an affiliate of North Bay Corporation (collectively North Bay), provided waste management services for San Anselmo. The North Bay…