November 7, 2023
City Attorney's Office
DATE: November 7, 2023
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Dave Aleshire, City Attorney
Subject:
Settling Guidiville Rancheria of California, et al v. United States of America, et al.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The settlement amount of $75,000 will be paid using account string 01917090-400336.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
None.
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
A dispute has arisen among the Parties over how the net revenues received by the City should be calculated
pursuant to the terms of the Amended Judgment. The
Parties now wish to settle this dispute by the City paying $75,000 with commencement of Tribe/Upstream control
to avoid protracted litigation over the terms of the
Amended Judgment
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
APPROVE the proposed settlement agreement in
Guidiville Rancheria of California, et al. v. United States of America, et al. for a total settlement amount of $75,000 – City Attorney’s Office (Dave Aleshire 510-620-6509).
DISCUSSION:
In March 2012, Tribe/Upstream filed a lawsuit alleging material breach of various agreements related to Tribe/Upstream’s right to develop and purchase the Point Molate property from the City. On November 21, 2019, the Court entered an Amended Judgment in that action, amending its earlier Judgment of April 2018. The Amended AGENDA
REPORT
November 7, 2023
Judgment included a revenue sharing mechanism among the Parties. Specifically, under that mechanism the City would control the Property for a specified four-year window of time during which the City would share certain net revenues collected in connection with its control of the Property on a fifty-fifty basis with Tribe/Upstream.
Thereafter, Tribe/Upstream would control the Property for five (5) years and would similarly share net revenues on a fifty-fifty basis with the City.
The period of City control of the Property ended and the period of Tribe/Upstream control commenced on August 29, 2022. A dispute arose regarding how the net revenues (totaling $400,000) received by the City should be calculated pursuant to the terms of the Amended Judgment. The Parties now wish to settle this dispute with commencement of Tribe/Upstream control to avoid protracted litigation over the terms of the Amended Judgment, thereby avoiding the uncertainty and costs of further litigation, including potential appeals and resolving all current disputes between the Parties concerning the Amended Judgment.
The City is settling this dispute for less than one-half of the net revenues by paying the Tribe/Upstream seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000). By entering into the attached Settlement Agreement, no Party admits liability for the claims arising from the Amended Judgment.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Proposed Settlement Agreement