Dunkl

These two separate declaratory relief actions were brought by the City of San Diego (the City) and the limited partnership which owns the San Diego Padres professional baseball team, Padres, L.P. (the Padres) against two individuals, Michael Kane Dunkl and Philip Zoebisch (collectively referred to as the proponents), who began in November 1999 to circulate a proposed initiative which would have made certain negative findings concerning an earlier city ordinance, Proposition C (Prop. C). Prop. C was adopted by City voters in November 1998 to enable funding and construction of the downtown ballpark redevelopment project pursuant to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the City, its redevelopment agency, the Padres and others.

The City and the Padres sought judicial declarations that the proposed initiative, commonly known as the Ballpark Initiative (referred to here as the proposed initiative), was invalid and should not be placed on the ballot even if adequate signatures for that purpose were obtained. These actions were coordinated in the superior court and resulted in summary judgments in favor of the City and the Padres, the moving parties below. The basis of…