Fix v. Board of Supervisors

HERNDON, J. Petitioners appeal from an order quashing the writ of certiorari whereby they sought to review the action of respondent Board of Supervisors of the County of Los Angeles in the formation of the Los Angeles County Waterworks District No. 33.

The petition for the formation of said district was filed with [525]the board of supervisors on February 15, 1961, in eight parts. Bach part had attached to it an affidavit of circulation. On the same date, the county engineer certified to the sufficiency of the petition.

On March 23 and May 4, 1961, upon due notice, hearings were held on the petition. On July 18, 1961, an election was held and the proposition was adopted by a vote of 222 to 72. On August 1, 1961, the election results were declared by the board of supervisors and the district was established. On September 15, 1961, there became effective a validating act, (Stats. 1961, ch. 985) which by its terms validated the formation of the district. (Section 2.) It further provided (section 6) for a 30-day period during which any action in review might be brought. On December 19, 1961, the instant petition for the writ of certiorari was filed in the court below. This was ten months after the petition for the formation of the district had been filed, five months after the election was held, and three months after the validating act had become effective.

Appellants’ sole contention in support of their asserted right to the writ is that the petition which commenced the proceedings to form the district was insufficient. In substance, it is alleged that some of the signers were unqualified, that some were misled, and that some of the signatures were forged. Appellants do not challenge any of the other proceedings of respondent board, either in connection with the public hearings held prior to determining the sufficiency of the petition, or in connection with the election subsequently held.

The trial court granted respondents’ motion to quash upon the basis of its determination that the alleged defects in the petition, assuming them to be true and otherwise relevant, were cured by the 1961 validating act (Stats. 1961, ch. 985, effective September 15, 1961). This act provides in pertinent part that “ [a] 11 public bodies heretofore organized or existing under, or under color of, any law are hereby declared to have been legally organized and to be legally functioning. . . .” (Section 2.)