The new Board of Supervisors has spent a lot of time in the
recent weeks familiarizing themselves with the details of the 13
active lawsuits the county is involved in. But they should do more
than learn about the cases. They should spend some of their
political capital to get rid of as many of them as possible.
The new Board of Supervisors has spent a lot of time in the recent weeks familiarizing themselves with the details of the 13 active lawsuits the county is involved in. But they should do more than learn about the cases. They should spend some of their political capital to get rid of as many of them as possible.
In the last few years, the county has racked up a staggering legal bill – about $2.8 million between April of 2000 and September of 2004 – defending itself against various suits. That’s nearly $3 million that could have paid for public services like parks, streets and police protection instead. What’s worse, several of the cases involve county officials – former supervisors, the District Attorney and the County of Governments general manager, for instance.
Several supervisors have said they would like to get the issues resolved before the lawsuits bleed the county for more taxpayer money. Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz was the most vocal, saying he would like the county to find the resolution to as many of the suits as possible, as soon as possible.
“I’m very concerned for the taxpayers’ money,” he said.
The irony is that De La Cruz himself is suing the county for $5 million in a racial harassment suit in conjunction with his battle over the District 5 election. But now that De La Cruz has struck a deal to drop the felony election charges leveled against him by the District Attorney and will retain his supervisor seat, he should throw out his lawsuit to show that he is serious about cleaning up the county’s legal messes. Then he and Supervisor Don Marcus, who also said he would like to see the suits disappear, should lead a charge to settle or dismiss many of the other cases.
The supervisors ought to dedicate a member of the county’s legal office to find solutions before millions more are spent lining the pockets of high-priced lawyers. Although the 13 suits are varied and not all seem to lend themselves to an easy resolution – the Sandman case against the county has been dragging on for more than nine years – surely some of them can be handled out of court quickly.
Take the case of Julie Roybal and Katie Fancher against District Attorney John Sarsfield. A settlement has been in the works for weeks, yet no conclusion has been reached. The board should offer to arbitrate the case – making the results binding within certain agreeable parameters – and get the lawyers off the clock.
The sooner these cases are over, the more money will be left in the county coffers to spend on roads, fire protection and health care – issues that truly benefit the public.
