The San Jose Spotlight reported that Outfront Media won a lawsuit against the city of San Jose after contending that San Jose did not follow proper procedure when they bid out the construction of two digital billboards south of Highway 101 on San Jose Mineta International Airport property. That bid wws awarded to Clear Channel Outdoor.
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Thomas E. Kuhnle ordered San Jose to rescind the February 2020 agreement with Clear Channel as of Dec. 20, 2023 and comply within 150 days, according to the order. The city is also required to pay Outfront Media’s legal fees.
In 2018, city officials ended a ban from 1985 on digital billboards. After making the agreement with Clear Channel, the city council then amended its rules on future billboards and mandated that any advertisers putting up new billboards had to take down six older billboards in December 2022.
We asked California attorney Richard Hamlin of Hamlin| Cody to summarize the case.
“The San Jose City Council approved an agreement that gave Clear Channel Outdoor the right to build two billboards on City-Owned Airport Property. Outfront Media sued the City and named Clear Channel Outdoor as a party that would be affected by the decision.
A formal City policy required the City to request proposals before allowing billboards on City-owned Property. The court ruled that the City violated its own policy by negotiating directly with Clear Channel Outdoor, which had an existing contract to provide advertising inside the terminal.
The judge ruled that the City Council had the right to waive the policy requirements but had not done so. He ruled that in the absence of a formal waiver, the City must follow its policies. He ordered the City to rescind its approval of the Clear Channel billboards.
This is a summary of an eighteen-page decision. We did not participate in the case and have not discussed it with any Party. We do not offer editorial comment; It would be a conflict of interest to do so. We don’t know if the City or Clear Channel Outdoor will appeal against the decision.”
To receive a free morning newsletter with each day’s Billboard insider articles email info@billboardinsider.com with the word “Subscribe” in the title. Our newsletter is free and we don’t sell our subscriber list.
Paid Advertisement
