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Utility lawsuit dismissed
By Polly Keary, Editor
A lawsuit brought against the city of Sultan by some of its residents over utility funds has been dismissed.
Thursday, Oct. 11, Snohomish County Superior Court Judge David Kurtz granted a motion to dismiss the suit, brought by a group of Sultan citizens calling themselves the “Utility Stakeholders.”
The group alleged that the city improperly used money in the city’s utility fund to pay expenses for other things, and asked for a refund of the money that they believed was misspent.
The city of Sultan, like many small towns, divides the cost of shared staff and buildings among several different funds, including utilities, the general fund and others.
The Utility Stakeholders believed that, in charging the costs to each fund in advance based on estimates, rather than after the real costs were known, the city was breaking state law.
The Stakeholders asked for a refund of the money they felt was misspent, plus interest.
Kurtz dismissed the case because he said the stakeholders hadn’t taken their grievances to the appropriate venue. Prior to going to court, the group should have gone to the state attorney general, whose job it is to monitor government agencies, he said.
The Utility Stakeholders conceded that they hadn’t gone to the attorney general, and then noted that the state auditor had given the city a clean audit, finding no wrongdoing in regards to the group’s allegations, according to a press release from the city of Sultan.
The win was gratifying, said Mayor Carolyn Eslick, but, she said, she regretted the money it cost the city in legal fees, about $10,000 in all.
“While I am pleased with the court’s decision, I am frustrated that the city had to needlessly incur the expenses to respond to a lawsuit that not only has no basis in fact, but was clearly not even filed in accordance with the law,” she said.
Ray George
November 8, 2012 at 2:50 am
Perhaps Her Honor, Mayor Eslick should reconsider her last staement about no basis in fact, and not filed in accordance with the law. Didn’t she mention that, on October 31st, Judge David A. Kurtz reversed his October 11 decision and reinstated the lawsuit Case No. 12-2-07260-2? Her statements about the Utility Stakeholders Group not going to the Attorney General and the State Auditor, and about the Auditor finding nothing wrong are misleading and, as the good mayor would say, have no basis in fact.
On October 31, Judge Kurtz sumed up: “In any event, upon reconsideration, the COURT is compelled to conclude that dismissal at this point under CR12(C) is not appropriate, and accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the ‘Order Granting Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss’ signed and filed on October 11, 2012, is hereby denied.”
Kay George
November 8, 2012 at 3:09 am
This barrage of misinformation by Madam Mayor reminds me of a press release awhile back she and the former City Administrator released. The title of the press release bragged the city had reduced utility fees. However, in actually reading the press release, you discovered the real facts which was they reduced utility fees $.25 per month for one reason, but increased them several dollars per month for another reason, resulting in an actual net increase. I asked Mayor Eslick to put out a press release correcting this obvious misrepresentation, but she refused to do so. How honorable is Her Honor, really?
Pennie Marshall
November 21, 2012 at 10:44 pm
I am having a hard time trying to grasp that Council Member Kay George wants to save the taxpayer’s money by the comments made above. It is obvious that she wants to cost the city more money by supporting this lawsuit the city is faced with having to defend itself against and should be asked to step down immediately. You cannot represent the citizens of Sultan’s best interests if your interest is dipping in to the taxpayer’s pockets to make them pay for costly litigation.
This is unacceptable. You are not trying to save the taxpayer’s of Sultan money, you are taking more from them hoping that they won’t figure out what you are trying to do.