Paul Tapia v. Huntington Park Police Dept.

MEMORANDUM

Paul Tapia appeals the District Court’s grant of summary judgment to the Huntington Park Police Department and the City of Huntington Park. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1343 (a)(3), and we affirm.

The district court correctly found that Tapia failed to provide adequate probative evidence on his theory of Monell liability to defeat summary judgment against him. See Monell v. Dept. of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658 , 98 S.Ct. 2018 , 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978). Tapia’s § 1983 action was based on his contentions that Mayor and City Council member Elba Guererro pressured the Chief of Police to wrongfully terminate him from the police department, and that the Mayor is a policymaker for whose actions municipal liability attaches. Pemb-aur v. City of Cincinnati, 475 U.S. 469, 480 , 106 S.Ct. 1292 , 89 L.Ed.2d 452 (1986). However, as permitted by California law, under the City of Huntington Park’s municipal code neither the mayor nor any other individual council member has independent policymaking authority over personnel decisions. Only the City Council when sitting in a duly held meeting of the Council may give orders or instructions to the City Manager, who acts as the…