The Foothill-De Anza Community College District has made a preemptive strike against a potential litigant who could challenge the district’s recently passed $491 million bond measure.
Using a specialized type of lawsuit called a validation action, the district has requested that the Santa Clara County Superior Court confirm that Measure C — which passed June 6 with 65 percent of the vote — followed all legal requirements needed for a bond issue.
If the action is successful, then Aaron Katz — the Saratoga attorney and landlord who has sued several public entities over their bonds and parcel taxes and netted $260,000 in settlements — and other potential litigants could no longer stand in the way of Foothill-De Anza issuing its bonds and beginning construction work on its many renovation projects.
Katz, who could not be reached for comment before press time, had begun to express concerns with Measure C long before it passed.
The Wednesday morning after Election Day, Foothill-De Anza trustees held a special 10-minute meeting to approve the issuance of up to $300 million of the $491 million in general obligation bonds approved with Measure C. The district filed the validation action that same day.
According to the districtís lawyer, Sean Absher, the validation action will ìensure that the bond process can go forward without unexpected legal challenges.î
Stephen Deitsch, a public lawyer with the Riverside firm Best, Best and Krieger, which specializes in working with school districts and other public entities, said validation actions are not common practice, but can be useful — particularly to let bond holders know the bonds are legitimate.
ìIt lends greater assurance, and some would argue total assurance, to the district and all parties working with the district that the financing is entirely legal and appropriate,î he said.
If the validation action is successful, Katz and other potential litigants who wanted to challenge Measure C bonds would not be able to do so, Deitsch said.
Members of the public have until July 17 to file with the county court against the bonds. Katz already indicated in a recent e-mail to the districtís chancellor, Martha Kanter, that he planned to enter the validation action as an interested party. He added that if Foothill-De Anza failed to act, Katz would take matters into his own hands.
ìIf the District chooses not to bring such an action, then be advised I am investigating the feasibility of bringing such an action of my own,î his June 14 e-mail read.
Kanter and members of the board of trustees refused to comment on the issue and asked that legal questions be referred to the San Francisco law firm Stradling, Yocca, Carlson and Rauth.
E-mail Molly Tanenbaum at mtanenbaum@mv-voice.com
