Griffith v. County of Santa Cruz
Petitioner Harold Griffith petitioned the superior court for a writ of mandate directing the County of Santa Cruz (County) to stop collecting a fee intended to fund Countys 911 emergency response system (the 911 fee). Petitioner alleged that the 911 fee was invalid because it was a special tax that had not been approved by two-thirds of the electorate as required by the California Constitution. (Cal. Const. arts. XIII A, 4, XIII C, 2, subd. (d).) The trial court denied the petition and this appeal followed. Court shall affirm. In Mancini v. County of Santa Cruz (Dec. 14, 2005, H028434 [nonpub. opn.]) (Mancini), this court decided that Countys 911 fee was not a special tax. Petitioner was adequately represented by the litigant in that case. Accordingly, he is estopped from relitigating the same claim in this case.
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