By During times like these when budget dollars are hard to come , the last thing Los Altos needs are bills for tens of thousands of dollars in attorney's fees in losing causes. Yet that is exactly what is happening.
A judge’s recent ruling deconstructing the city’s no-solicitation ordinance to thwart loitering day workers has the city paying $90,000 to cover the opposition’s attorney’s fees in addition to its own when city officials decided to defend their ordinance in the courts. Facing a similar lawsuit, Mountain View dropped its no-solicitation ordinance. Did Mountain View know something we didn’t? A February 2002 editorial in the Mountain View Voice noted: “Unless the city negotiates some sort of settlement, … a lengthy and expensive court battle could sap Mountain View’s finances at a time when the city expects sharply declining revenue.” Hmmm.
A Los Altos neighborhood sued the city over the need for an environmental impact report for a pool complex on Rosita Avenue. After months of fighting the issue in court, the city finally relented and is doing the EIR at a cost of between $70,000 to $81,000. Meanwhile, the city lost thousands in court costs and again, had to pay $50,000 to the opposition’s attorneys.
Obviously, there are winners and losers in any lawsuit. City officials presumably decided in both cases to defend their positions because they thought they would win. But from a practical standpoint, the city in both cases was up against it. A high-powered legal firm and the First Amendment were too much for the city to overcome in the day worker case. In the case of the Rosita pools issue, there was a reassonable case for an EIR for a project on a dead-end street in a residential neighborhood. So after all these legal fees, where are we? Back to square one.
Obviously, working on settlements out of court and without attorneys is a far less costly way to work out issues. As any skilled negotiator will tell you, find a point of common ground and work from there.
Could both sides agree that a conveniently located day worker center would lessen the number of day workers on the sidewalks? Could both sides acknowledge that Los Altos should be part of the solution since it is part of the problem?
On the Rosita issue, would a one-pool concept be acceptable to the majority of residents, who were around when the old Covington pool was in use? Could the pool supporters and the city find some way to make it work?
Negotiating and compromising is hard work, harder in some ways than trying to get your way in court. But in the end, we’re all better off - as is our budget.
