Client Successes

Partners Victor L. Wolf and Danielle G. Sakai represent City of Fontana

Best Best & Krieger LLP partners Victor L. Wolf and Danielle G. Sakai won an appeal for the City of Fontana in a lawsuit over the City’s liability following the dismantling of redevelopment agencies. The Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed a San Bernardino Superior Court decision on Feb. 23 that a successor agency, not the city that controls it, may be held liable for preexisting obligations of a redevelopment agency.

Before the California Legislature dissolved redevelopment agencies in 2011, the plaintiffs sued the Fontana Redevelopment Agency for allegedly failing to provide required low- and moderate-income housing. The City of Fontana was named as a defendant after the dissolution, in its capacity as a successor agency and as the municipality in control over the agency. The BB&K team won the City’s dismissal in a demurrer, which the appellate court affirmed. The court found that, while the City controlled the agency, neither it or its general fund were liable for the previous obligations of the redevelopment agency.

The case is Macy et al. v. The City of Fontana, D068508