Renne Public Law Group

Concluding RPLG's 2021 Public Law Fellowship, Carol Isen and Masa Shiohira presented on labor and employment law last Friday in a session moderated by Founding Partner Art Hartinger. Stay tuned to read about research projects completed by our 2021 Fellows, and visit https://rennepubliclawgroup.com/fellowship-program-2021 for more on the program.

Our Thursday Public Law Fellowship curriculum was delivered by Nora Frimann and Harvey Levine, moderated by RPLG Founding Partner Art Hartinger. Fellow presentations followed the session. Stay tuned for more on final projects by the Fellows! Read more about RPLG's Public Law Fellowship: https://rennepubliclawgroup.com/fellowship-program-2021

Yesterday's Public Law Fellowship programming featured Natasha Minkser, Michael Redding and Jamal Anderson in a discussion on policing and public safety reform. The fellows also heard from Public Law Fellowship Alum Michael Cohen on redistricting in California. Learn more about RPLG's Public Law Fellowship: https://rennepubliclawgroup.com/fellowship-program-2021

On Tuesday, our 2021 Public Law Fellows heard from Andrew Schwartz, Bevan Dufty and Renne Public Policy Group's Dan Carrigg on Housing, Transportation, Land Use and Sustainability. The afternoon curriculum featured Fire Chief Dave Winnacker with a session on Wildland Fire Risk Mitigation and the Law(s) of Unintended Consequences. Thank you to all of these distinguished speakers! Learn more about RPLG's Public Law Fellowship: https://rennepubliclawgroup.com/fellowship-program-2021

Thank you to yesterday's public law fellowship speakers, Michael Colantuono, Corrie Manning and Patricia Martel, for engaging the fellows in a discussion about the relationship between state, regional and local government! Monday afternoon, our fellows heard from RPLG Senior Associate Steve Cikes about the current challenges public employers are facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more about RPLG's Public Law Fellowship: https://rennepubliclawgroup.com/fellowship-program-2021

Renne Public Law Group is pleased to offer a condensed fellowship program designed to introduce law students to local government advocacy. The Fellowship Program will be held remotely for a two-week period: June 7-18, 2021. Get more information and apply by Feb. 1: https://rennepubliclawgroup.com/fellowship-program/

RPLG Senior Associate Ryan McGinley-Stempel analyzed a recent Ninth Circuit Decision that suggests chalking is a search under the Fourth Amendment but leaves municipalities a path to defend the practice under the administrative search exception. Learn more: https://rennepubliclawgroup.com/chalking-search-ninth-circ/

RPLG Founding Partner Jon Holtzman and Moraga-Orinda Fire Chief Dave Winnacker discuss innovative technologies and strategies developed by Chief Winnacker and a team of outside tech gurus to combat and manage wildfires. Watch the full video from the 2020 RPLG Public Law Fellowship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t24SUAhgsaw&t=4s

The League of California Cities' General Counsel Corrie Manning and Special Counsel Betsy Strauss discuss home rule in California, covering the importance of local control. Watch the entire video from the 2020 RPLG Public Law Fellowship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t-Knvda7CA&t=8s

RPLG Founding Partner Jon Holtzman will speak on a panel about transparency in the negotiations and administration of police labor agreements at a free webinar hosted by the Berkeley Law Center for Law and Work. The five-hour webinar about police reform on will take place on Friday, Jan. 29, convening sixteen lawyers, judges, policy experts and professors to discuss possible changes to police-related labor laws. Learn more: https://rennepubliclawgroup.com/founding-partner-jon-holtz/

Chair Louise Renne discussed RPLG's diversity-related shareholder derivative lawsuits in MarketWatch: The theory of our lawsuits is that everybody talks a good game, but when it comes into practice there is a real deficiency. What we see now is lip service, or companies putting in SEC statements that they’re committed to diversity and inclusion. Then nothing happens. https://www.marketwatch.com//theres-a-diversity-grift-righ

RPLG is pleased to have added 11 attorneys and policy experts to our staff this year. Our diverse new hires span a wide range of experience levels and fields, from a recent law school graduate to a police reform expert to a seasoned land use attorney. Learn more about each of our new hires’ experiences and what they bring to the team: https://rennepubliclawgroup.com/rplg-welcomes-eleven-attor/

Land use expert Ann Danforth joined RPLG as Of Counsel last spring, bringing decades of public agency experience to the firm’s government law practice. Learn more about Ann: https://rennepubliclawgroup.com/meet-rplg-of-counsel-and-la

The Fifth District Court of Appeal delivered a good result for cities in City of Fresno v. Fresno Building Healthy Communities. The Court agreed with the First District Court of Appeal’s decision in City and County of San Francisco v. All Persons Interested in the Matter of Proposition C, which held that Prop 13 and Prop 18’s requirement that local tax measures be approved by a 2/3 vote of the electorate does not apply to voter initiatives that impose special taxes. Approval of citizen initiatives by a majority vote will help cities raise badly needed revenue. Learn more: https://www.law360.com//calif-panel-reverses-supermajority