Homans v. City of Albuquerque

• Decision Date: 22 August 2002
• Docket Number: No. CIV. 01-917 MV/RLP.,CIV. 01-917 MV/RLP.
• Citation: 217 F.Supp.2d 1197
• Parties: Rick HOMANS, Plaintiff, v. The CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE, a Municipal Corporation and Margie Baca Archuleta in her capacity as Clerk of the City of Albuquerque, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of New Mexico

217 F.Supp.2d 1197

Rick HOMANS, Plaintiff, v. The CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE, a Municipal Corporation and Margie Baca Archuleta in her capacity as Clerk of the City of Albuquerque, Defendants.

No. CIV. 01-917 MV/RLP.

United States District Court, D. New Mexico.

August 22, 2002.

Rick L. Alvidrez, Keleher & McLeod, Albuquerque, NM, for plaintiff.

Randy M. Autio, Dan Ramczyk, Albuquerque City Attorney's Office, Albuquerque, NM, Brenda Wright, John C. Bonifaz, National Voting Rights Inst., Boston, MA, for defendants.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

VAZQUEZ, District Judge.

THIS MATTER is before the Court on the parties' Joint Motion for Stipulated Admission of Evidence, Briefing Schedule and Expedited Determination on the Merits [Doc. No. 35]. The Court, having considered the motion, the pleadings, testimony in connection with plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction, joint stipulation of certain evidence for expedited determination on the merits, exhibits, relevant law, and being otherwise fully informed, finds that the parties' joint motion is well-taken and will be GRANTED, and that, under the Tenth Circuit's interpretation of Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 96 S.Ct. 612, 46 L.Ed.2d 659 (1976), plaintiff is entitled to (1) a declaratory judgment that Article XIII, Section 4(d)(2) of the Albuquerque City Charter violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and (2) a permanent injunction enjoining the enforcement of the expenditure limitations under Article XIII, Section 4(d)(2) of the Albuquerque City Charter.

I. BACKGROUND

Rick Homans was a duly qualified candidate for Mayor in the City of Albuquerque, New Mexico (the "City"), whose name appeared on the printed ballot for the mayoral election held October 2, 2001. Mr. Homans brought this action seeking a declaratory judgment that Article XIII, Section 4(d)(2) of the Albuquerque City Charter (the "City Charter") violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. That Section states:

(d) No candidate shall allow contributions or make expenditures in excess of the following for any election:

* * * * * *

(2) To a candidate for the office of Mayor contributions or expenditures equal to twice the amount of the annual salary paid by the City of Albuquerque to the Mayor as of the date of filing of the Declaration of Candidacy.

The annual salary of the Mayor in office at the time of the October 2, 2001 election was $87,360. Therefore, the expenditure limitation for the October 2, 2001 mayoral election was $174,720. Under the terms of the City Charter, Article XIII, Section 4(d)(2), Mr. Homans was subject to a $500 fine for each violation of the expenditure limitations, and, if he had won the election, would have been subject to potential public reprimand and removal from office by the City Council for any such violation.

Prior to Mr. Homans's registration of his candidacy for Mayor, a state court issued a preliminary injunction which prevented enforcement of the expenditure limitations at issue herein. When Mr. Homans received informational materials from the City regarding his candidacy, he was verbally informed by a City employee that the expenditure limits would not be enforced. Three voters had brought the state court action. A candidate intervened in the action and argued that the voters lacked standing to bring suit. The state court agreed and gave the candidates twenty days to join the lawsuit before it would be dismissed for lack of standing. Neither Mr. Homans nor any other candidate joined, and the case was dismissed on August 15, 2001.

Plaintiff commenced the instant action, filing a complaint for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief [Doc. No. 1], on August 10, 2001. Thereafter, on August 13, 2001, plaintiff filed a motion for a preliminary injunction and a temporary restraining order [Doc. No. 3], seeking an order enjoining enforcement of the expenditure limitation provision of the City Charter. In support of his motions, Mr. Homans claimed that the City Charter was an unconstitutional infringement on his First Amendment rights. He contended that, in reliance on a City employee's assertion that the limits would not be enforced in this election, he had already exceeded the City Charter's expenditure limits. He further claimed that if the expenditure limits were not enjoined, he would have to stop campaigning and close his campaign headquarters. The City maintained that the City Charter was a constitutional limitation on campaign spending and that enforcement of the limitation would not cause Mr. Homans irreparable injury.

This Court held a hearing on August 20, 2001, for the purpose of determining whether Mr. Homans was entitled to temporary injunctive relief. Based on the record before the Court at that time, the Court found that Mr. Homans had shown a likelihood of success on the merits of his claim that the City Charter violated the First Amendment, that he would suffer irreparable harm if enforcement of the City Charter were not enjoined, and that the balance of harms and the public interest weighed in his favor. Thus, the Court granted Mr. Homans's motion for temporary injunctive relief [Doc. No. 17].

The Court held another hearing on August 30, 2001, for the purpose of determining whether Mr Homans was entitled to preliminary injunctive relief. By this time, the Court had had the opportunity to review the evidence submitted by the City in opposition to Mr. Homans's motion. At the hearing, the Court heard the testimony of Mr. Larry Makinson, an expert on election reform from the Center for Responsive Politics. The Court also heard argument from counsel for both parties on the issue of whether Mr. Homans was entitled to preliminary injunctive relief.

After the second hearing, the Court denied Mr. Homans's request for a preliminary injunction, finding that Mr. Homans had not shown a likelihood of prevailing on the merits ("Preliminary Injunction Memorandum Opinion") [Doc. No. 21]. The Court determined that Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 96 S.Ct. 612, 46 L.Ed.2d 659 (1976), did not present an absolute bar to expenditure limits, and that the relevant City Charter expenditure provision was narrowly tailored to meet the compelling governmental interests of preserving the public faith in democracy and reducing the appearance of corruption. The Court further found that Mr. Homans had made a sufficient showing of irreparable harm, that the balance of harms weighed in favor of Mr. Homans, and that the public interest favored the City.

On September 4, 2001, Mr. Homans filed an interlocutory appeal of this Court's denial of a preliminary injunction [Doc. No. 25]. Mr. Homans also filed with the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals an emergency motion for an injunction pending appeal, and an alternative motion for suspension of the appellate rules and expedited review of the district court's denial of his application for a preliminary injunction. In a per curiam order dated September 6, 2001, the Tenth Circuit granted Mr. Homans's emergency motion for an injunction pending appeal, and enjoined the City from further enforcing Article XIII, Section 4(d)(2) of the City Charter. The Tenth Circuit found that Mr. Homans had demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success on the merits on his First Amendment claim that campaign expenditure limitations are unconstitutional. Additionally, the Tenth Circuit agreed with this Court's findings that Mr. Homans had made a sufficient showing of irreparable harm and that the balance of harms weighed in favor of Mr. Homans.

Thereafter, based on the parties' agreement, the Tenth Circuit suspended the appeal pending entry of final judgment in this Court [Doc. No. 29]. The parties then filed a joint motion for stipulated admission of evidence, briefing schedule and expedited determination on the merits [Doc. No. 35], requesting, inter alia, that this matter be decided on the merits without a trial based upon the evidentiary record developed in connection with Mr. Homans's motion for temporary restraining order and motion for preliminary injunction. The parties further agreed to the admission of the evidence and factual stipulations set forth in the parties' joint stipulation for admission of certain evidence for expedited determination on the merits ("Stip.") [Doc. No. 36], which was filed simultaneously with the joint motion.

II. FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Mr. Homans is a resident of the City. Stip. at ¶ 1.

2. The City is a municipal corporation organized under the laws of the State of New Mexico and is a "person" within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Stip. at ¶ 2.

3. Francie D. Cordova is the Clerk of the City (the "Clerk") and is charged with enforcement of certain ordinances relating to City elections and is a "person" within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Ms. Cordova succeeded defendant Margie Baca Archuleta as the Clerk on December 1, 2001. Stip. at ¶ 3.

4. The City's expenditure limits were enacted in 1974. Stip. at ¶ 12, Def.Ex. 1 at 4.

5. Limits on candidate spending remained in effect for each mayoral and city council election held from 1974 through 1995. Stip. at ¶ 13.

6. The spending limits were temporarily enjoined for the 1997 elections by a court order in Murphy v. City of Albuquerque, No. CV-97-0007826 (2d Judicial Dist.). Stip. at ¶ 14.

7. Studies of the temporary removal of the limits show a correlation to a significant decrease in voter turnout. See Def. Ex. 1 at 8.

8. The spending limits were restored for the 1999 city council elections after the plaintiffs in Murphy withdrew their lawsuit through a stipulated dismissal. Stip. at ¶ 15.

9. The City Charter was amended in 1999 to permit candidates for Mayor and city council to spend up to twice the annual salary of the office in their election campaigns. Stip. at ¶ 16.

10. The City is one of the few remaining cities in the United States that limits the amount of money a candidate for political office may...