Court of Appeal Approves Injunction Stopping Costa Mesa “Contracting Out”
A California Court of Appeal affirmed an injunction against the City of Costa Mesa in the City’s attempt to contract-out a whole host of public services. In early 2011, the City sent out layoff notices to over 100 City workers who are represented by the Costa Mesa City Employees’ Association (CMCEA). CMCEA brought suit against the City, and obtained an injunction stopping the contracting out. The City appealed.
CMCEA brought its lawsuit under provisions of the Government Code which restrict a general law city’s ability to contract out services. Under the Government Code, cities and counties may only outsource jobs that involve “special services”. California courts and the Attorney General have interpreted these Government Code sections to mean that cities and counties cannot outsource jobs unless they are “special” --- “special” because of either the peculiar or particular nature of the service to be performed, or because the public entity is not able to provide the services through its own resources.
The Appeals Court said it was possible for CMCEA to win its lawsuit. Except for jail operations and payroll services, the Court found that there “is no indication the Legislature intended to allow the City to outsource any other services at issue in this case. Nor is there any evidence the City’s workforce is incapable of providing any of those services.” The injunction will remain in effect until a trial is held on CMCEA’s lawsuit.
This is a victory for both Costa Mesa public workers and Costa Mesa taxpayers. Costa Mesa’s public workers win because their jobs will continue to be protected until a trial is held. And anytime outsourcing is restricted, taxpayers benefit. A recent study found that, contrary to “conventional wisdom”, when a government outsources jobs, it pays “billions more annually in taxpayer dollars to hire contractors than it would to hire [government] employees to perform comparable services.” In fact, governments pay contractors nearly TWICE as much for services than they would to government employees.
Author: Jake White
