City Council
259 N. Wilma Avenue
Ripon, CA 95366
MEMO
To: Honorable City Council
From: Lisa Roos, City Clerk & Finance Director
Date: 08/12/2025
Subject: Claim - Eric Ruiz
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
After reviewing the claim submitted by Eric Ruiz, the City’s claim adjustor is recommending the City Council reject the claim.
BACKGROUND:
Individuals who believe a municipality such as the City of Ripon is responsible for a loss that they have experienced may file a claim with that municipality. The City Clerk is responsible to process any claim received in a manner that is consistent with the Government Code. The following summarizes how a typical claim is processed:
1. City Clerk reviews the claim to determine if the claim submitted is complete. If it is found to be complete, the claim is forwarded to the City’s claims adjustor for processing. If the claim is determined not to be complete, the City Clerk returns to the individual as incomplete.
2. The City of Ripon is a member of the Central San Joaquin Valley Risk Management Association (CSJVRMA), which consists of 54 cities in the Central Valley that selfinsure liability losses through a pool. The CSJVRMA claims adjustor reviews all liability claims for the facts of the incident including videos, police report, interviews all individuals involved in the incident, etc. The adjustor will also review applicable local, state and federal laws to determine the City’s liability in the incident.
3. If the claims adjustor finds the City is responsible for the damages filed in the claim, he or she will submit those findings to the City Clerk for processing. If the amount of damages is less than $5,000, the City Administrator has the authority to approve the payment of the damage. If the amount of damages is greater than $5,000, the City Clerk will place on the City Council agenda for approval to pay the claim.
4. If the claims adjustor finds the City is not responsible for the damages filed in the claim, he or she will submit those findings to the City Clerk and recommend the City Council reject the claim.
5. If the claim is rejected by the City Council, the City Clerk sends a “notice of rejection” to the claimant, which advises the claimant they have six months to file a court action.
6. After the claimant has been paid or 6 months has passed since the rejection, the City’s claim adjuster issues a “closing report” to staff and staff closes the claim and files it.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS:
Eric Ruiz submitted a claim to the City of Ripon on June 16, 2025 for the cost to remove his redwood trees, which he claimed needed to be taken down as a result of a City construction project in late 2024. The scope of the project included the removal of a portion of the existing sidewalk adjacent to his property (near the intersection of Seventh Street and Ash Avenue) and replaced with an ADA ramp. Mr. Ruiz claims the construction of this project disrupted the root system of redwood trees located on his property, resulting in the redwood trees needing to be removed.
The CSJVRMA claims adjustor has reviewed the claim submitted and pictures related to the claim, including Google Street view history from before the City’s work began. Based on this review, it is the claims adjustor’s recommendation that this matter be submitted to the City Council for the claim to be rejected.