Lonergan

The City of El Cajon (El Cajon) sought a writ of mandate to compel Gerald J. Lonergan, San Diego County Auditor (Auditor), to comply with instructions given him by the Comprehensive Planning Organization of the San Diego Region (CPO) to disburse $1,165,000 to El Cajon from the Local Transportation Fund (LTF) held on deposit in the San Diego County treasury. El Cajon and CPO contend the disbursement was authorized by the Mills-Alquist-Deddeh Act (the MAD Act). (Cal. Pub. Util. Code, § 99200 et seq.)

The Auditor refused to honor the directive from CPO upon the ground the CPO allocation of LTF monies to El Cajon was illegal under Public Utilities Code section 99232. El Cajon proposes to use these funds for local street purposes.

Upon trial, the court refused to issue the writ of mandate: it would compel the drawing of a warrant to pay an illegal claim. Pending appeal by El Cajon and CPO, the Auditor was enjoined from transferring all or part of the $1,165,000.

Facts

The facts are not in dispute. El Cajon is an incorporated general law city. CPO is a regional planning agency created by the Joint Powers Agreement (Gov. Code, § 6500 et seq.) comprised of the County of San…