CITY ORDERED TO SHARE PAPERS ON MINE BATTLE.Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer LOS ANGELES - A Superior Court judge ordered Santa Clarita city officials to turn over five binders containing documents detailing the city's fight against a sand and gravel quarry proposed in Soledad Canyon. Judge David Yaffe ruled that the city had no evidence to back up its claim that the documents requested by Cemex Inc., the parent company of quarry proponent Transit Mixed Concrete, were exempt from the state's Public Records Act. Yaffe found, with about a half-dozen exceptions, the documents were public records and that the city improperly refused to turn them over to company officials by asserting that they were shielded by the city's attorney-client privilege In the law of evidence, a client's privilege to refuse to disclose, and to prevent any other person from disclosing, confidential communications between the client and his or her attorney. or were prepared in anticipation of litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. . The documents covered by Yaffe's order include reports on the money the city has spent on the fight against the quarry, records obtained by the city from other public agencies, reports compiled by city consultants about the discovery of the southwestern arroyo toad on the mine site and other documents about endangered species endangered species, any plant or animal species whose ability to survive and reproduce has been jeopardized by human activities. In 1999 the U.S. government, in accordance with the U.S. in the area. Yaffe also ordered the city to pay the mining company's attorneys fees and court costs associated with the suit, which was filed in January. Those fees amount to tens of thousands of dollars, according to company spokesman Brian Mastin. ``It would have been a lot fairer and a lot cheaper had the city decided to comply with the law,'' Mastin said. ``We're trying to shed some sunshine on the city's actions.'' City Attorney Carl Newton could not be reached for comment. City officials acknowledge spending nearly $1.5 million in an attempt to derail de·rail intr. & tr.v. de·railed, de·rail·ing, de·rails 1. To run or cause to run off the rails. 2. TMC's plans to mine 56.1 million tons of sand and gravel from the area between Aqua Dulce Canyon and Soledad Canyon roads south of the Antelope Valley Freeway The Antelope Valley Freeway is a freeway in Los Angeles and Kern counties in southern California. It is signed as California State Highway 14 along its length. It connects Greater Los Angeles to the rapidly developing Antelope Valley. . Mastin said he would not be surprised if the documents Yaffe ordered released showed the city has spent ``two or three times that amount.'' City officials said the lawsuit was filed to harass the city and gain insight on the city's plans to fight the mine in court. TMC TMC Technology Marketing Corporation (Norwalk, Connecticut) TMC Texas Medical Center (Houston, TX) TMC Traffic Message Channel TMC The Movie Channel TMC Traffic Management Center also sued Los Angeles County, asserting that county officials have precluded their plans for the mine through a series of delays and unreasonable requirements engineered by Santa Clarita officials and 5th District Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich Michael Dennis Antonovich (born 1939 in Los Angeles, California) is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors representing the Fifth District, which covers northern Los Angeles County, the Antelope, Santa Clarita, Pasadena, and parts of the San Fernando and San . Although city officials and Antonovich contend that the mine will destroy the environment of the Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the 48,612-acre (19,672. , TMC officials counter that most residents won't even know it is operating. |
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