Opinion No. (1998)

DANIEL E. LUNGREN Attorney General ANTHONY M. SUMMERS Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE DAVID G. KELLEY, MEMBER OF THE CALIFORNIA SENATE, has requested an opinion on the following question: With respect to a real property lease and water purchase agreement between a city and a general partnership which requires renegotiation of the rental rate and water fees every five years in accordance with guidelines specified in the agreement, and a general partner is thereafter elected to the city council, may the city council at the end of a five-year period (1) approve a change in the rent and fees, (2) allow the rent and fee changes to be decided by a third-party arbitrator in accordance with an arbitration clause contained in the agreement, (3) allow the agreement to remain in effect with the previously set rent and fees, or (4) upon transfer of the council member's proscribed interest to another general partner, family member, unrelated third person, or trust, approve a change in the rent and fees? CONCLUSION With respect to a real property lease and water purchase agreement between a city and a general partnership which requires renegotiation of the rental rate and water fees every…