HANFORD - In its fight to defend a city ordinance restricting furniture sales, the City Council has hired a San Francisco attorney specializing in appellate law as a special counsel.

Steven Mayer of Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk & Rabin, retained by a council action Tuesday, will help city attorneys defend the municipal zoning law against a challenge by former Country Hutch furniture store owners before the state Supreme Court.

The council decision was based on "my recommendation to have the assistance of somebody who has good experiences before the California Supreme Court," said City Attorney Michael Noland. "We're in the process of preparing a brief and arguments, and he'll be reviewing the initial work we've done and make necessary modifications."

Under the contract, the city will pay Mayer $650 an hour in legal fees for his work. With no end in sight any time soon, the city could easily end up with a six-figure bill.

In July the state Supreme Court agreed to hear the 3-year-old case, which questions the constitutionality of a rule banning furniture sales by mom-and-pop stores in the city's bustling retail hub. The ordinance, passed in 2003, essentially allows only large department stores in the zone to sell furniture on a limited basis, raising controversy that led to the lawsuit.

Tracy and Adrian Hernandez, former owners of Country Hutch, sued the city over the double standard of the law, claiming it violated the equal protection under the constitution. The Kings County Superior Court sided with the city last year, but a state appellate panel overturned that decision in March. The city is appealing the appellate judgment to the highest court.

"I think it would be a lot easier for the city to do the right thing and pay us the attorney fees," Tracy Hernandez said in phone interview Friday. The Hernandezes have moved out the area since the controversy and have established an apparel business in Pismo Beach. The couple's attorney, Russell Ryan of Fresno, was on vacation and could not be reached this week.

This is the first time Hanford is having to defend itself in a suit at the Supreme Court level, at least since 1989, when Kahn Soares & Conway began representing the city, Noland said.

"That is exactly why we want to have somebody's eyes looking at what we're filing (at the Supreme Court)," Noland said.

The city attorney will file a brief with the Supreme Court this fall, and the Hernandezes must file their response briefs. The court then will set a hearing on the case.

Noland said the briefing stage should complete by the end of the year.

It "could potentially take a year after the filing of the opening brief or longer" until the court will publish its opinion, Noland said.

The Country Hutch case is an atypical case, but it reflects the ongoing - and the costly - nature of facing litigation.

Hanford already faces scores of other lawsuits, including one filed by District Attorney Ronald Calhoun who seeks to force the council to start tape recording closed-door meetings as a measure to prevent further alleged violations of California's open-meeting law.

Four suits, filed by two groups, are pending against the city regarding the growth pattern in West Hanford and water supply concerns.

Regardless of how these legal battles turn out, the consequences of being sued for its decisions could cost a significant amount of taxpayers' money.

To defend itself against Calhoun's civil action, the city has hired Hanford Attorney Robert Dowd as special counsel, paying him $215 per hour. As of August, the city has already paid $42,541 in legal fees charged by Dowd, although the figure may not be most current, said city finance director Tom Dibble.

(The reporter may be reached by e-mail at: eyamashita@hanfordsentinel.com)

(Aug. 19, 2006)