COURT OF APPEAL VICTORY ON NO-BID CONTRACTS

In a published opinion, Craig Price and Austin Payne prevailed in a writ proceeding in the superior court and before the California Court of Appeal. On appeal, the court rejected a taxpayer group’s attempt to invalidate two no-bid contracts between a school district and vendor providing diversity and anti-bias training to educators. (Fair Education Santa Barbara v. Santa Barbara Unified School District (December 15, 2021; 2d Civ. No. B309248.) The Court held that the contracts met the requirements for two statutory exceptions to public bidding requirements: exceptions for “professional services” and “special services.”