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Tarver v. City Commission of Bremerton12/14/1967
is not the situation involved in the case at bar, since the record discloses that petitioner has been found guilty of driving while intoxicated as well as making illegal sales of liquor.
In some instances, standards such as "trustworthy," "good reputation" or "morally responsible" may well give rise to the possibility that the officer or body, charged with the duty of deciding who shall be allowed to engage in a particular business or occupation, may act in an arbitrary or capricious manner with respect to a particular individual, but the answer to this is that section 5 of the ordinance in question specifically provides that the order of the city commission revoking the license of a taxicab driver may be appealed to the county superior court. Quoting again the words of the United States Supreme Court in Hall, supra, at 553-54:
We are a little surprised that it should be implied that there is anything recondite in a business reputation or its existence as a fact which should require much investigation. If in special cases there may be controversy, those cases the statute takes care of; an adverse judgment by the commissioner is reviewable by the courts. . . .
The discretion of the commissioner is qualified by his duty, and besides, as we have seen, the statute gives judicial review of his action. Pending such review we must accord to the commissioner a proper sense of duty and the presumption that the functions entrusted to him will be executed in the public interest, not wantonly or arbitrarily to deny a license to or take one away from a reputable dealer (Plymouth Coal Co. v. Pennsylvania, 232 U.S. 531, 545); and, as we have said, in cases where there can be a dispute of fact, the statute provides for judicial review . . . .
Similarly, in Brown v. Seattle, 150 Wash. 203, 207, 272 P. 517 (1928), relying on Town of Sumner v. Ward, 126 Wash. 75, 217 P. 502 (1923), we stated ". . . the officer of the municipality is called upon to exercise a discretion of a judicial nature, and his failure to act or his affirmative acts may be reviewed in the courts in case he refuses to exercise his discretion or exercises the same arbitrarily." Admittedly, the aforementioned two cases are factually distinguishable from the instant case in that they both involved ordinary lawful businesses pursued on private property which therefore, unlike the occupation of taxicab driving, were subject only to limited regulation. Nevertheless, the rationale of these cases with respect to the court's power to review the arbitrary or capricious actions of a municipal officer or body is applicable to the case at bar.
Judgment is affirmed.
Disposition
Affirmed.
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