Raymond Veltman v. State Lands Commission, et al.
Published: Jun. 17, 1995 | Result Date: May 19, 1995 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: BC111323 – $6,000,000
Judge
Court
L.A. Superior Central
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Gregory R. Oxford
(Isaacs, Clouse, Crose & Oxford LLP)
William W. Oxley
(Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe)
Louise H. Renne
(Renne Public Law Group)
Daniel E. Lungren
(King & Spaulding LLP)
Facts
In 1992, the State of California Legislature passed public Resources Code Section 6010 which allowed the Cities of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, San Francisco, San Diego, Chula Vista, Coronado, Imperial Beach, and National City to take moneys from the Harbor Trust Funds of the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, San Francisco, and the San Diego Unified Port District, respectively. The amount of money which could be taken was 25 percent of the discretionary reserves of the Ports, commencing December 31, 1992, onward. Plaintiff Raymond Veltman, a retired businessman in the transportation and shipping industry in all of the ports in California, filed this suit because he believed Public Resources Code Section 6010 prevented the ports from making improvements, thereby rendering the ports noncompetitive on a worldwide basis. Veltman further claimed that this Section took from the schools since excess moneys from the Harbor Trust Funds went toward a special fund for education.
Settlement Discussions
Demands and offers exchanged prior to these final settlements were not disclosed.
Damages
The nature and value of the damages, as claimed by Plaintiff, were the actual and potential losses to the Harbor Trust Funds and the taxpayers.
Result
On April 3, 1995, the City of Los Angeles waived the right to claim $177,819,530 from the Los Angeles Harbor Fund after deducting $69,600,000 taken. The City of Los Angeles further agreed to contribute $3,000,000 to the Los Angeles Harbor Trust Fund. On May 19, 1995, the City of Long Beach waived the right to claim $155,619,534 plus any moneys under Section 6010 for the fiscal years 1992-93 and 1993-94 from the Long Beach Harbor Trust Fund after deducting $21,300,000 taken. The City of Long Beach further contributed $3,000,000 to the Long Beach Harbor Trust Fund. Prior to these 2 settlements, the City of San Francisco, the City of Oakland, and the Cities in the San Diego Unified Port District (except for Coronado which was dismissed from the lawsuit without entering into any settlement agreement) waived the right to take any moneys from their Harbor Trust Funds. The total savings to all the Trust Funds was approximately $360,000,000. The new contributions to the Trust Funds are $6,000,000.
Other Information
Normally case identification is confidential on settlements; due to high media coverage, we have made an exception in this case.
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