Sacramento Chamber of Commerce v. Stephens

WASTE, C. J.

Original application for a writ of

mandamus

to be directed to the respondent as treasurer of the city of Sacramento, commanding Mm to honor a warrant in the sum of $235 in payment of a claim arising out of certain printing done pursuant to the terms of a contract

[609]

between the petitioner Sacramento Chamber of Commerce and the city of Sacramento.

According to the terms of the contract, by the provisions of which the obligation of the city shall not exceed a total consideration of $5,000, the Chamber of Commerce, called the “Advertiser”, agrees to use “its facilities and its special knowledge and experience” during the term of the contract, which is something less than a year, to “receive and entertain public guests of the City of Sacramento, to assist in public celebrations held by the City of Sacramento at large, to aid and carry on the work of inducing immigration to the City of Sacramento, to exhibit manufactured and other products of the City of Sacramento, and generally to advertise the City of Sacramento”, all as in the manner provided in the contract. The contract also provides that the advertiser — the Chamber of Commerce— shall be entitled to payment only for the expense actually paid or incurred by it in carrying out plans approved by the city council, and shall not receive any compensation for its own services in carrying out the contract.

Pursuant to the terms of the contract, petitioner printed 5,000 copies of a booklet entitled “The Key to Sacramento”, and distributed 1,000 copies through the United States mail, delivering the remaining copies to the city clerk for the use of the city. Although petitioner’s ■ claim, supported by proper vouchers for the actual cost of printing and mailing the copies of the booklet, was duly approved and certified by the proper officials of the city, the respondent city treasurer refuses to pay it, on the ground that it is beyond the right and power of the city to enter into the contract. The cause is submitted on a demurrer to the petition and points and authorities on the legal questions involved.

In executing the contract with the petitioner, the city council adopted a convenient and legal method of carrying out the provisions of section 80 of the charter of the city of Sacramento, which reads as follows: “The Council may appropriate and spend money from the funds of the City for any or all of the following purposes: Reception and entertainment of public guests, assistance of public celebrations held by the City at large, to aid or carry on the work of inducing immigration to the City, to exhibit