Public Law
Public Law Journal: Fall 2014, Vol. 37, No. 4
Content
- Community Choice Aggregation—An Alternative Way to Providing Electricity Service By Local Government
- "Grandfathering" of Emergency Medical Services Under "Section 201" of the Emergency Medical Services Act
- Leggo My Home Rule: Charter Cities and State Municipal Interference
- Legislative Update
- Litigation & Case Law Update
- Masthead
- Public Law Section Forges Partnerships with California Law Schools to Initiate Panel Receptions with Public Officials and Practitioners
- Remarks of the 2014 Ronald M. George Public Lawyer of the Year Award Recipient Wendy Patrick
- To Ban or Not to Ban: How California Cities and Counties Can Effectively Regulate Oil and Gas Fracking Activity without the Risk of a Total Ban
- University of San Diego Law School Student Wins Public Law Student Writing Competition
- Wendy Patrick Honored as 2014 Public Lawyer of the Year
- Message from the Chair
Message from the Chair
By K. Scott Dickey*
I am very pleased to be authoring my first "Message from the Chair" as the 2014-2015 Chair of the Public Law Section. I first joined the Public Law Section’s Executive Committee in 2009. The last five years have demonstrated to me what a meaningful and supportive resource the Public Law Section can be for those who practice in the public sector. It has also been a pleasure to work with and get to know the dedicated and talented public lawyers that have served with me on the Executive Committee. I am honored to have the opportunity to serve as your Chair this year, and to help lead this fine group.
This will be an exciting year for the Section. Over the past several years, we have made great strides in the services we provide to Section members. We have significantly improved our educational offerings, with our annual open government and ethics symposium and multiple webinars on topics including: regulatory takings, workplace investigations, ethics for public attorneys, social media, and the Government Claims Act. This year, we will also be working with the Environmental Law Section to produce a seminar in spring 2015, and hope to also partner on other program offerings with several other sections.
These efforts have had great results for Section membership. The Public Law Section had the second-highest jump in membership last year of all of the State Bar’s practice sections, increasing by more than 10 percent – by far the highest jump in our membership in the last five years. And we are working to keep this momentum going.