Settlement Reached in Sierra Madre Water Rate Lawsuit

The City of Sierra Madre announced today that it has reached a “non-monetary” settlement in the lawsuit filed against the city by local blogger John Crawford challenging a recent hike in municipal water rates.

Crawford, along with attorney and former Mayor , had by alleging the city violated the Proposition 218 notification process preceding the .

However, in a press release announcing the July 29 settlement agreement, city officials maintained that they had fully complied with the process, an assertion they had continued to make throughout the threatening, and eventual filing of, .

According to the city’s announcement, it was Crawford who made the settlement offer. It was an offer that the city accepted, “basing their decision upon what they felt was best for the City’s residents and water customers, noting that further judicial proceedings would result in additional legal fees,” according to the statement, a PDF copy of which is attached to this article.

The agreement reached in the settlement says that “In exchange for the dismissal, the City agreed that in the event the City was to consider a water rate increase, before May 1, 2014, the City would continue to provide water customers with a Fact Sheet, similar to one it provided during the last rate increase process, as well as information regarding low income discounts, which is always available at City Hall and the .”

On his blog this morning, Crawford called the settlement a victory: a photograph of a white flag accompanies the headline “City Caves and Settles.”

But Crawford goes on to say that the outcome was not the one he had originally sought. Instead, Crawford shifts the focus of his claim onto possible future rate increases and how they will be handled by the city.

“While my lawsuit, if successful, would have forced the City to conduct another hearing on the water rate increase approved in January of this year, ironically, it would have had no impact on these future water rate increases,” Crawford said on his blog Monday morning.

But a statement issued by Mayor John Buchanan seemed to diminish any claims of victory made by Crawford.

“The informational piece requested in this settlement is information that we provided in the past, and we agreed to provide it again because it will assist residents in making informed decisions,” Buchanan, himself an attorney, said in a statement. “We could have agreed to this without a lawsuit. Although I believe there was no basis for this lawsuit, this resolution ends the matter at no cost to residents.”