Proposed Limits on Hiring Local Workers Called Illegal

The city of Santa Clarita should not adopt an ordinance requiring developers to hire local construction workers because such a law would be unconstitutional, according to a legal memo released Wednesday.

The Feb. 4 memo was prepared by City Atty. Carl K. Newton in response to a request by Mayor Jill Klajic, who proposed the ordinance late last month.

The ordinance would violate several legal principles, including one prohibiting discrimination on the basis of residency and another guaranteeing equal protection of the law, the memo states.

If it were adopted, it would “most likely be successfully challenged and possibly subject the city to liability for damages and plaintiff’s legal fees,” Newton wrote.

Klajic said Wednesday that she had suspected the proposal would not pass legal muster.

“My major concern was to bring the whole issue to the public consciousness,” she said.

Klajic proposed the ordinance after about 250 members of a construction union charged that Newhall Land & Farming Co., the city’s largest developer, had not hired enough local workers to build the area’s first regional mall.

Newhall Land has denied the accusation, saying that of the 70 contractors hired to build the Valencia Town Center, 26 are union shops and 64 are Southern California companies employing local workers.

However, the firm refused Wednesday to divulge the identity of the contractors, saying the firms fear that they would be harassed by unions, Newhall Land spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer said.