City of Saratoga v. Huff

• Decision Date: 14 April 1972
• Citation: 24 Cal.App.3d 978,102 Cal.Rptr. 376
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: CITY OF SARATOGA, a municipal corporation of the State of California, Petitioner, v. James R. HUFF, City Clerk of the City of Saratoga, Respondent; West Valley Joint Community College District, Real Party in Interest. Civ. 30615.

Page 376

102 Cal.Rptr. 376

24 Cal.App.3d 978

CITY OF SARATOGA, a municipal corporation of the State of California, Petitioner, v. James R. HUFF, City Clerk of the City of Saratoga, Respondent;

West Valley Joint Community College District, Real Party in Interest.

Civ. 30615.

Court of Appeal, First District, Division 1, California.

April 14, 1972.

Hearing Denied May 31, 1972.

THE COURT:

In a petition for rehearing the city for the first time suggests that a junior (community) college district is not subject to the debt limitation provisions of article XIII section 40 of the state Constitution. 'The courts have on numerous occasions declared that they will not grant rehearings on points newly urged in the petition. It is the duty of counsel to see that all points are properly presented in the original briefs or argument, before submission.' (Witkin, Cal. Procedure (2d ed. 1971) Appeal, § 598, p. 4526.) Nevertheless, it may simply be pointed out that the contention has no merit. The provisions 'No . . . board of education, or school district, shall incur any indebtedness' etc. were originally enacted in article XI section 18 in the Constitution of 1879. It was not until 1926 with the adoption of section 14 of article IX that the Constitution mentioned 'junior college' districts. That section reads, 'The Legislature shall have power, by general law, to provide for the incorporation and organization of school districts, high school districts, and junior college districts, of every kind and class, and may classify such districts.' Nevertheless, the conclusion that junior or community college districts are not school districts within the constitutional restraint is unwarranted. In 1917, long before the 1926 amendment, section 1720 of the Political Code was amended to read as follows: 'The secondary schools of the state shall be designated as high schools, technical schools, and junior colleges . . ..' (Stats.1917, ch. 304, § 1, p. 463.) Similar provisions are now embraced in section 5552 of the Education Code. Section 25422.5 provides: 'Except as otherwise provided in this code, the powers and duties of community college boards are such as are assigned to high school boards.' Section 1011 which applies to the governing boards of all school districts recognizes the constitutional limitation. It is unnecessary to belabor the point by reference to numerous other provisions of the Education Code which indicate that a junior or community college district is...