Sierra Madre Prepares for ‘Anticipated Litigation’ Over Water Rate Hike

Sierra Madre officials conferred with their legal counsel during the closed session portion of last Tuesday’s City Council meeting regarding “Anticipated Litigation” over the . The item was added to the agenda by City Manager Elaine Aguilar after she received a letter from four outspoken critics of the rate hike demanding the ordinance be repealed.

Aguilar said that Kurt Zimmerman, one of the four signatories, stated to her upon delivering the letter that he would sue the city if they failed to take action on the letter’s demands. No lawsuit has yet been filed against the city, though the close session item cites “significant exposure to litigation.” A copy of the letter is attached to this article.

Dated Jan. 14--though not delivered to Aguilar until Jan. 21--this latest letter was signed by Sierra Madre residents John Crawford, Anita Delmer, John Herrmann and Kurt Zimmerman, the same four activists who in September 2010 challenging the constitutionality of the rate increase.

Under the guidelines of Proposition 218, cities are required to undertake a number of steps to properly notify the public before proceeding with an increase in water rates. Among those requirements: The city must allow time for a potential majority protest from ratepayers that would override the city’s ability to go forward with the rate hike. While opponents did mount a campaign to collect those protests, the City Council on July 27, 2010, determined that there were an insufficient number of protests to stall or defeat the proposal.

Tim Bittle, director of legal affairs for the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association (HJTA), told Patch in December 2010 that his group for any signs of wrongdoing. While the statements made by Bittle initially added fuel to the fire of rate hike opposition, a representative from the HJTA confirmed recently that .

“We got quite a bit of information about what happened and there wasn’t really enough evidence to send a letter requesting any more information,” Bittle’s legal affairs assistant Cindy Perez said in a telephone interview. “There wasn’t really anything for us to take issue with.”

But in the latest letter, the rate hike opponents take issue with the rate increase process for a number of reasons aside from the failed protest attempt. Namely, the letter alleges the city’s notifications were incomplete as they did not include “the amount of the fee or charge proposed,” “the reason for the proposed rate increase,” and that notices were not mailed to residents before each and every hearing held by the City Council following the initial proposal.

The letter also contends that the city needed to provide these notices in languages other than English and that the funds raised by the rate hike may go to serve purposes not related to water service.

So far, the city is holding its ground, asserting that its actions will be found to be within the letter of the law should a lawsuit be brought against Sierra Madre and/or force them into litigation.

“Our response to these allegations is the ,” City Manager Elaine Aguilar said. “The city attorney and I believe that the city has fully complied with the requirements of Proposition 218.”

Aguilar added that the requirements of Proposition 218 were not originally intended to be applied to municipal water rates. Interestingly, the HJTA’s Tim Bittle was instrumental in the so-called “Big Horn Decision” in which a court decided water rates were indeed covered by the provisions of Prop 218.

“There’s really very little to be found within the text of Prop 218 that pertains to water rates,” Aguilar said. “We’ve really gone out of our way to make sure we stay in compliance with the law.” 

Asked to comment on the letter, signatory Anita Delmer said she would not offer any comments and that the group had agreed to speak through one voice alone: that of Kurt Zimmerman.

Zimmerman did not respond to our request for comment.