People ex rel. Frank v. Bd. of Supervisors of San Francisco

Citations

• 21 Cal. 668

Syllabus

<p>The corporation, the City of San Francisco, was not destroyed by the Consolidation Act, but continued. Its name only was changed, and the change in this respect did not require any alteration in the pleadings or any suggestion of record in an action pending against the city at the time the act was passed.</p> <p>Where an action was commenced against the City of San Francisco previous to the passage of the Consolidation Act, but judgment was not recovered until after the passage of the said act: Held, that the judgment was binding against the existing corporation, the City and County of San Francisco.</p> <p>The provisions of the fourth section of the Consolidation Act, respecting the preexisting indebtedness of the City of San Francisco, was not a mere legislative declaration of good faith towards the public creditors, but a requirement imposing upon the Board of Supervisors the duty of providing for the payment of that indebtedness.</p> <p>The Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco have authority, and it is their duty to provide for the payment of judgments recovered against the City of San Francisco. They have no discretion except between two courses of procedure. They must either appropriate for this purpose money already in the treasury, or they must raise the money by taxation.</p> <p>Mandamus is the appropriate remedy to enforce the performance of this duty by the Board of Supervisors.</p> <p>There being no discretion as to the duty to be performed there is none as to the use of the means required in performing it. If the means require the passage of an ordinance, the Supervisors have no discretion to refuse to pass the ordinance. They have not in such case the right to vote at their option either for or against the ordinance.</p> <p>Section ninety-five of the Consolidation Act, with reference to auditing claims, does not apply to judgments recovered upon the preexisting indebtedness of the city.</p> <p>The restrictive clauses of that