Ruth v. Oklahoma City

287 P. 406, 143 Okla. 62
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedApril 1, 1930
Docket20840
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 287 P. 406 (Ruth v. Oklahoma City) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ruth v. Oklahoma City, 287 P. 406, 143 Okla. 62 (Okla. 1930).

Opinion

HEFNER, J.

Chas. H. Ruth, the plaintiff in error, brought this action on behalf of himself and other taxpayers of the city of Oklahoma City against the city of Oklahoma City, wherein he sought an injunction to prevent the city from selling certain bonds which had been authorized by an election in Oklahoma City to provide funds for the purpose of acquiring, owning, maintaining, and beautifying real property for public parks, with the privilege of locating thereon aviation airports with all necessary and proper equipment, buildings, and appurtenances. The ordinance authorized the issuance of bonds for the purposes above mentioned in the principal sum of $425,000.

The defendants challenged the petition by demurrer. The demurrer was sustained by the trial court, the plaintiff declined to plead further, and judgment dismissing plaintiff’s action was entered. The action of the trial court in sustaining the demurrer to the petition is now before us for review.

It is alleged that the ordinance authorizing the calling of the election arid the election proclamation were published in the Daily Record, and that the Daily Record is not a newspaper of general circulation, but one of very limited circulation and devoted to court and real estate news, and that the circulation is confined to real estate dealers and attorneys at law.

It is also charged that the ordinance embraces more than one subject and is in violation of section 2, article 5, of the charter of the city of Oklahoma City, and that the subjects attempted to be set forth in the title constitute duplicitous propositions, and that the ordinance, for that reason, is void.

It is further alleged that the defendant city is without authority to spend money in the construction and maintenance of airports, or aviation fields.

A portion of the order of the trial court sustaining the demurrer is as follows:'-

“ * * * The cotírt, being fully advised in the premises, finds that but a single subject was set up in the title of the ordinance complained of, and that the people, the qualified taxpaying voters of the city of Oklahoma City, were fully advised and notified of what they were to vote upon at the said election, and that the said defendants have the power under the charter of the said city to issue its bonds for the purpose of providing funds for the purchase of lands for public park purposes, with the privilege of locating thereon aviation airports, with all necessary and proper equipments, buildings and appurtenances thereto and that the amended petition of the plaintiff does not state a cause of action entitling the plaintiff to the relief prayed, and that the demurrer of the defendants should be sustained.”

The specifications of error may be briefly stated as follows:

(1) That the court erred in holding and finding the taxpaying qualified voters of the city were sufficiently advised and notified of what they were to- vote upon at the election complained of in the plaintiff’s petition.

(2) That the court erred in holding and finding that but a single subject was contained in the title of the ordinance.

(3) That the court erred in holding that the defendants have the power under the charter of the city to issue its bonds for the purpose of providing funds for the acquisition of lands for park purposes with the privilege of locating thereon aviation airports, with all the necessary and proper equipment and buildings.

Section 4392, C. O. S. 1921, provides that the proclamation shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation.- It is claimed that the Daily Record is not a newspaper of general circulation. Certainly, the Legislature intended that before bonds were issued general publicity should be given to the taxpayers of the proposed issuance of the bonds. This should always be done. It is not alleged, however, that the electors did not have actual notice of the proposed bond issue, and by reason thereof failed to par *64 ticipate, nor that the result of the election would have been changed if the notice had been given to all the qualified electors.

In the case of Ratliff v. State, 79 Okla. 152, 191 Pac. 1038, this court said:

“Where a special election is assailed on the ground of lack of compliance with all of the statutory requirements in reference to noticé, but there is no averment or showing that the electors did not have actual notice or knowledge of the elecfion and failed to participate therein by reason thereof, the same will not be held void on this account.”

Again, in the case of Town of Grove v. Haskell, 24 Okla. 707, 104 Pac. 56, it was said:

“* * * The vital and essential question in such cases is, Did the want of notice or knowledge result in depriving a sufficient number of the electors of the opportunity to exercise their franchise as to change the result of the election? If not, then the will of the electors, as expressed, should be sustained.”

Under the rule announced in these cases we do not think the election was void because the ordinance and proclamation were published in the Daily Record.

It is urged that the court committed error in holding that but a single subject was contained in the title of the ordinance. Section 2, article 5, of the charter provides in part that every ordinance shall embrace but one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in the title. In 25 R. C. L. 847, in discussing the provision that an act shall embrace but one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in the title, it is said:

“* * * The intention doubtless is to prevent embracing in an act having one ostensible object provisions having no relevancy to that object, but really designed to effectuate other and wholly different objects, and thus to conceal and disguise the real object proposed by the provisions of an act under a false or deceptive title.”

Does the ordinance contain but one subject, and is it clearly expressed in the title? The title is as follows:

“An ordinance outhorizing the calling and holding of an election in the city of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma county, state of Oklahoma, for the purpose of submitting to the qualified property taxpaying voters of said city the question of the issuance of the bonds of said city in the sum of four hundred twenty-five thousand and no-100 ($425,000) dollars, to provide funds for the purpose of acquiring, owning, maintaining and beautifying real property for public parks with the privilege of locating thereon aviation . airports, with all necessary and proper equipments, buildings and appurtenances thereto, to be owned exclusively by said city; levying and collecting an annual tax in said city for the payment of the interest on and principal of said bonds; and declaring an emergency.”

It is claimed that there is not only a duplicity of subjects, but a discretionary power attempted to be vested in the city officers not conferred upon them by any charter provision. To constitute duplicity the act must embrace two or more dissimilar and discordant subjects which, by no fair intendment, can be considered as having any legitimate connection with or relation to each other. We do not think the ordinance is duplicitous.

In the case of Bartlesville Elec. L. & P.

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Bluebook (online)
287 P. 406, 143 Okla. 62, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ruth-v-oklahoma-city-okla-1930.