1 DONALD W.

RICKETTS (CSBN 39825)

28855 Kenroy Avenue
2 Santa Clarita, CA 91387
Phone (661) 250-3091
3 Facsimile (661) 250-1767 FINAL DRAFT
4 Attorney for Plaintiffs
SAVE OUR LIBRARY,
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7 and
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SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
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FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES
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NORTH VALLEY DISTRICT
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SAVE OUR LIBRARY, a California )
12 unincorporated membership )
association; ) No. ____________
13 )
)
14 )
)
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individuals; individually and in the )
16 public interest, )
)
17 Plaintiffs, ) VERIFIED
vs. ) COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTIVE
18 ) AND DECLARATORY RELIEF
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA, } RELIEF
19 a political subdivision of the State )
of California; KENNETH R. )
20 PULSKAMP, City Manager of the )
City of Santa Clarita, in his official )
21 capacity and not as an individual; )
DARREN HERNANDEZ, Deputy )
22 City Manager & Director of )
Administrative Services of the City )
23 of Santa Clarita, in his official )
capacity and not as an individual; )
24 and DOES1-50, )
)
25 Defendants )
________________________________ )
26
27 COME NOW Plaintiffs and complain of Defendants, and each of them, and
28 allege as follows:

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 1 1. Plaintiff SAVE OUR LIBRARY (“SOL”), is a California
2 unincorporated membership association with a principal place of business in the
3 City of Santa Clarita, County of Los Angeles, State of California.
4 2. Plaintiffs
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8 are individuals residing in the City of Santa Clarita, County of Los Angeles, State
9 of California, are members of SOL, and patrons of the Los Angeles County Free
10 Library System.
11 3. Plaintiffs bring this action individually and in the public interest.
12 4. Defendant CITY OF SANTA CLARITA (“SANTA CLARITA” or
13 “CITY”) is a California charter city and a political subdivision of the State of
14 California.
15 5. Defendant KENNETH R. PULSKAMP (“PULSKAMP”) is City
16 Manager of Defendant SANTA CLARITA and is sued herein in his official
17 capacity and not individually.
18 6. Defendant DARREN HERNANDEZ (“HERNANDEZ”) is Deputy
19 City Manager and Director of Administrative Services of Defendant SANTA
20 CLARITA and is sued herein in his official capacity and not individually.
21 7. Plaintiffs do not know the true names and identities of the
22 Defendants sued herein by the fictitious names DOES 1-50, and will amend their
23 complaint at the time they become known to them. Said fictitiously named
24 Defendants participated in and/or performed the acts hereinafter alleged.
25 8. Pursuant to California Education Code section 19100, et seq., the
26 County of Los Angeles (“County”) established and maintains a Free Library
27 System within its boundaries.
28 9. Defendant CITY elected to join the County’s Free Library System and

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 1 the County has established and maintains within the CITY, libraries located in the
2 Newhall, Valencia and Canyon Country neighborhoods.
3 10. Prior to the dates alleged herein, Defendant CITY resolved to
4 construct a new library in Newhall to replace the present Newhall library. The
5 building would be owned by defendant CITY and maintained and operated by the
6 County as part of its Free Library System.
7 11. In 2008 the CITY’s City Council established an ad hoc committee to
8 explore means of funding the construction of the new Newhall Library. The
9 committee was originally composed of Council Member s TimBen Boydston and
10 Marsha McLean. Council Member Boydston was subsequently replaced by
11 Council Member Laurie Ender.
12 12. Plaintiffs are informed and believe, and thereon allege, that at a date
13 and time unknown to plaintiffs, the focus of the ad hoc committee changed to
14 explore the prospect of privatizing the CITY’s libraries.
15 13. Prior to June 16, 2010, Defendant CITY and the County entered into
16 negotiations for a contract for the County to operate the new Newhall library.
17 14. At the same time that defendant CITY was negotiating with the
18 County regarding the terms and conditions for operation and maintenance of the
19 new Newhall Library, defendant HERNANDEZ met with representatives of
20 Library Systems & Services, LLC (“LSSI US”) to explore the possibility of having
21 LSSI operate and maintain the libraries, if the CITY withdrew from the County’s
22 Free Library System.
23 15. LSSI US, is a sister corporation of Library Systems & Services UK,
24 Ltd., a British corporation. Both appear to be under common management.
25 16. On or about June 16, 2010, the County submitted to the CITY a draft
26 memorandum of understanding for operation of the new Newhall library.
27 17. Plaintiffs are informed and believe and thereon allege that no further
28 discussions were held between the County and CITY regarding operation of the

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 1 new Newhall Library
2 18. Prior to July 13, 2010, the deliberations of the Councils ad hoc
3 committee on the library, and Defendant HERNANDEZ’S discussions with LSSI
4 US were not widely known and certain individuals have alleged that Brown Act
5 violations occurred. No records of the deliberations and activities of the ad hoc
6 committee and Defendant HERNANDEZ’s discussions/negotiations with LSSI US
7 were produced by the CITY pursuant to requests by SOL and several individuals
8 pursuant to California’s Public Records Act.
9 19. On July 13, 2010, at the last meeting of the City Council prior to its
10 summer recess, Council Member Laurie Ender, a member of the ad hoc committee,
11 and Defendant HERNANDEZ, suggested that the CITY withdraw from the
12 County’s Free Library System. No mention was made of a possible contract with
13 LSSI US to operate the libraries. The matter was placed on the City Council’s
14 agenda for August 24, 2010, the first City Council meeting after the Summer
15 recess.
16 20. On July 16, 2010, Council Member Ender published an article in the
17 local newspaper again suggesting that the CITY “assume responsibility for
18 providing library services in Santa Clarita.” No mention was made that the City
19 was considering the possibility of privatizing the libraries by contracting with LSSI
20 US.
21 21. On August 8 and 11, 2010, the CITY issued a request for proposals
22 “seeking a contractor to deliver library services in the City of Santa Clarita [to]
23 manage all aspects of the day to day administration of the libraries.”
24 22. On June 10, 2010, one month before the CITY issued the request for
25 proposals, LSSI US submitted a proposal to the CITY to operate the CITY’S
26 libraries. Attached hereto as Exhibit A is a true and correct copy of LSSI US’s
27 letter transmitting the proposal to the CITY
28 23. The proposal from LSSI US was the only proposal received by the CITY

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 1 for operation of the CITY’s libraries.
2 24. On August 24, 2010, in the face of opposition by hundreds of people
3 who attended the City Council meeting, and in the absence of virtually any
4 support from the public, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 10-71 providing
5 that “the City of Santa Clarita no longer desires to be part of the Los Angeles
6 County Free Library System and that the City of Santa Clarita will assume
7 responsibility for the delivery of public library services within the City of Santa
8 Clarita effective July1, 2011.” It authorized Defendants PULSKAMP and
9 HERNANDEZ and others “to take such actions as the City Manager deems
10 necessary to carry out, effectuate, implement, and fulfill the actions taken”. It
11 loaned $250,000 to the Public Library Fund. A true and correct copy of Resolution
12 10-71 is attached hereto as Exhibit B.
13 25. Defendant PULSKAMP has, in numerous writings, stated that the
14 CITY has entered into a contract with LSSI US to operate the CITY’s libraries,
15 though none has been made public.
16 26. In response to the CITY’s notice to the County that it was
17 withdrawing from the County’s Free Library System, the County has, inter alia,
18 advised the CITY that it will no longer provide funds for renovation of the
19 Canyon Country Library which has been closed for over a month now to allow
20 the renovations to proceed. As a result, access to the Canyon Country library will
21 be unavailable to Plaintiffs and the public for an indefinite period.
22 27 By withdrawing from the County’s Free Library System, the CITY is
23 obligated, pursuant to California law, to pay to the County the fair market value of
24 the County’s library real property (buildings and land) and personal property
25 (books, computer systems, etc.). The City has estimated the cost and operating
26 expenses at $16.1 million.
27 28 The CITY proposes to meet this financial obligation, and to pay for
28 future ongoing operating expenses of the libraries it will own, and its bonded

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 1 indebtedness for the new Newhall library, by contracting with LSSI US to operate
2 the CITY’s libraries. The net effect is an increase in taxes and capital expenditures
3 to modify the operations of well-operated libraries that the public will pay for.
4 FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION
5 vs. All Defendants for an Injunction
6 29. Plaintiffs hereby incorporate by reference, the same as though fully
7 set forth herein, paragraphs 1 through 28 above.
8 30. Plaintiffs and members of the public gained library privileges by
9 providing to the County personal information.
10 31. In addition, at the time a library patron borrows books from the
11 library, uses computers maintained in the library, or otherwise avail themselves of
12 the library’s facilities and services, information regarding these activities are
13 placed in an electronic database, including information on books borrowed by the
14 patrons and searches made by patrons on the library’s computer terminals.
15 32. California Government Code sections 6250, 6254(j) and 6267 (portions
16 of California’s Public Records Act, “CPRA”) provide as follows:
17 “6250. In enacting this chapter, the Legislature, mindful of the right
of individuals to privacy, finds and declares that access to information
18 concerning the conduct of the people's business is a fundamental and
necessary right of every person in this state.”
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“6254. Except as provided in Sections 6254.7 and 6254.13, nothing in
20 this chapter shall be construed to require disclosure of records
that are any of the following:
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* * * * *
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“(j) Library circulation records kept for the purpose of identifying the
23 borrower of items available in libraries, and library and museum materials
made or acquired and presented solely for reference or exhibition purposes.
24 The exemption in this subdivision shall not apply to records of fines
imposed on the borrowers.”
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26 “6267. All registration and circulation records of any library which
is in whole or in part supported by public funds shall remain confidential
27 and shall not be disclosed to any person, local agency, or state agency
except as follows:
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 1 “(a) By a person acting within the scope of his or her duties
within the administration of the library.
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“(b) By a person authorized, in writing, by the individual to whom
3 the records pertain, to inspect the records.
4 “(c) By order of the appropriate superior court.”
5 33. California Constitution Article 1 provides:
6 “SECTION 1. All people are by nature free and independent and have
inalienable rights. Among these are . . . privacy.
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“SEC. 3(b)(3) Nothing in this subdivision supersedes or modifies the
8 right of privacy guaranteed by Section 1 or affects the construction of any
statute, court rule, or other authority to the extent that it protects that right to
9 privacy . . . .”
10 34. Defendant CITY is a “local agency” within the meaning of the CPRA
11 and it and its defendant employs and officers named herein are subject to its
12 provisions.
13 35. The management of “all aspects of the day to day administration of
14 the libraries” requires access to the information which the patrons provided to the
15 libraries to gain library privileges and the information which the County has
16 subsequently gathered regarding books borrowed, computer usage, fines, etc.
17 Pursuant to the Constitution and the Public Records Act all such information is
18 private and confidential.
19 36. Giving LSSI US that data, or access to it, violates Plaintiffs privacy
20 rights and the privacy rights of all library patrons.
21 37. Equally improper would be to allow LSSI US to gather the data anew,
22 as a condition of continued library privileges and collecting usage data (often
23 generally referred to as the “borrowing history”). The data is still confidential and
24 may not be gathered or used by a private company as a condition of continued use
25 of the books and other resources of publicly owned libraries, operated on publicly
26 owned facilities, by public employees who are directly subject to California law.
27 38. The right of the Plaintiffs and all library patrons to privacy and
28 confidentiality regarding their library usage honor a person’s desire to make their

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 1 lives public or not, to receive or decline unwanted commercial solicitations which
2 can be targeted based upon an analysis of their interests as shown by the books
3 they borrow and searches on the internet through library computer terminals, and
4 provide a measure of protection against identity theft.
5 39. Placing that data in the hands of a private, for-profit corporation, with
6 non-public employees and connections to foreign entities not subject to U.S. laws
7 dilutes, at least, those protections and the damage done by doing so is irreparable
8 and cannot be fully compensated for by damage actions, individual or class, for
9 privacy violations.
10 SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION
11 vs. All Defendants for Declaratory Relief
12 40. Plaintiffs hereby incorporate by reference, the same as though fully set
13 forth herein, paragraphs 1 through 39, above.
14 41. Defendants deny Plaintiffs’ allegations herein and there exists between
15 Plaintiffs and Defendants a controversy regarding the respective rights and duties
16 of the parties.
17 WHEREFORE Plaintiffs pray for judgment against Defendants, and each of
18 them, as follows:
19 1. Under the First Cause of Action, an order by the court restraining
20 defendants from:
21 A. Entering into a contract with LSSI US for operation of the CITY’s
22 libraries or, if a contract has been entered into, restraining Defendants from
23 carrying out its provisions;
24 B. Giving, furnishing, or providing to LSSI US the personal
25 information of its borrowers, including their identity and borrowing/computer
26 usage history, or allowing it to gather such information; and,
27 C. An award of attorney’s fees and costs; and,
28 2. Under the Second Cause of Action:

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 1 A. A declaration that Defendants may not give or furnish to LSSI
2 US, or allow it to access personal information regarding Plaintiffs and all library
3 patrons, and their usage of library facilities and things, or allow LSSI US to collect
4 such information; and,
5 B. An award of attorney’s fees and costs.
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7 DATED: October 3, 2010
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9 DONALD W. RICKETTS
Attorney for Plaintiffs
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 1 VERIFICATION
2 declares as follows:
3 1. I am one of the plaintiffs in the above-entitled action. The following matters are
4 within my personal knowledge and, if called as a witness herein, I would be competent and
5 qualified to and would testify thereto.
6 2. I have read the foregoing Verified Complaint for Injunctive and Declaratory Relief.
7 3. The facts set forth in the foregoing complaint are, except where stated on
8 information and belief, within my personal knowledge or the knowledge of my attorney. As to
9 matters stated on information and belief, I believe they are true and correct.
10 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing
11 is true and correct and that this verification was executed this 3rd day of October 2010, at Santa
12 Clarita, California.
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