Opinion No. (1998)
Opinion
Lead Opinion
DANIEL E. LUNGREN Attorney General ANTHONY S. Da VIGO Deputy Attorney General
FRANCIS BOYKIN, JIM CONNER, and PATRICK WILLIAMS have requested this office to grant leave to sue in quo warranto upon the following:
"'"Offices are incompatible, in the absence of statutes suggesting a contrary result, if there is any significant clash of duties or loyalties between the offices, if the dual office holding would be improper for reasons of public policy, or if either officer exercises a supervisory, auditory, or removal power over the other." [Citations.]
"`The policy set forth in People ex rel. Chapman v. Rapsey [(1940) 16 Cal.2d 636 ] comprehends prospective as well as present clashes of duties and loyalties. [Citation.]
"'"Neither is it pertinent to say that the conflict in duties may never arise; it is enough to say that it may, in the regular operation of the statutory plan." [Citation.]
"'"Only one significant clash of duties and loyalties is required to make offices incompatible. . . ." [Citation.] Furthermore, "[t]he existence of devices to avoid . . . [conflicts] neither changes the nature of the potential conflicts nor provides assurance that they would be employed. . . ."…