On Saturday, San Francisco Chronicle columnist C.W. Nevius caught up to where Fix Pacifica readers were two years ago. His column succinctly updates, summarizes, and links to a post that appeared here and on my blog in February 2013. Most Fix Pacifica readers are already pretty familiar with this issue, as it has been a frequent topic here. Still, it's good to see it covered in main stream media. It is relevant now because, as Nevius notes and as we expected, WEI has already filed another lawsuit. By C.W. Nevius - July 10, 2015
"Only the truest of true believers think the Wild Equity Institute is going to prevail in its quixotic quest to turn Sharp Park Golf Course into a nature park. It’s a pipe dream...
No sooner had a suit for more environmental review been slapped down on May 28 than Plater filed another, the latest in what has turned into a five-year legal guerrilla action...
But maybe there is a logic to this. It turns out that Plater and his organization can win by losing. Take the ruling in U.S. District Court on July 1, 2013, which, by any measure, rates as a legal smackdown of the institute. As Judge Susan Illston said in her ruling, “plaintiffs did not prevail on a single substantive motion before the Court...
Illston was not impressed. In her ruling, she said the plaintiffs’ lack of success led “the Court to believe that a large majority of the time spent was ‘excessive, redundant, or otherwise unnecessary.’” What’s more, she wrote, “plaintiffs failed to satisfactorily explain why Glitzenstein and Crystal, at $700 an hour or greater, spent so much time on this case. Most of the issues in this case were not complex. Yet the Washington, D.C., attorneys account for half of the attorney hours spent on the case.”
So, you assume, that was the end of that. The institute didn’t win and the judge thinks the fees are excessive. Not so fast. Illston cut the amount, but still awarded $385,809, paid by San Francisco. A tidy sum for a losing effort.
Thanks C.W. Better late than never.Blogger and “enthusiastic but bad golfer” Mike Wallach was one of the first to pick up on this. In his blog, MW Mobile Blog, he created a post in 2013 headlined, “Why Sharp Park lawsuits will never end: We pay them to sue us.”
The post referenced in the Nevius column appeared in Fix Pacifca February 12, 2013 and is linked here.
A subsequent follow-up post on the same subject from April 17,2013 is linked here.
Mike Wallach
Fix Pacifica Foreign Correspondent
San Francisco Bureau
X-posted on MW Mobile Blog
8 comments:
Interesting how some NIMBIES complain that a developer might make a profit in building an improvement that provides ongoing, sustainable City tax revenue.
At the same time, these same NIMBIES support attorneys and questionable legal actions that profit no one but the attorneys. Waste of public tax revenue, paid by all of us.
Nevius is a whore for the SFPGA. A free lunch goes a long way.
918, "free lunch", vs Plater who is paid?
Worse, paid by the community (tax payers), through a legal scam. Maybe rethink your comment.
1:46
I notice one of these guys are doing an expensive remodel on his house. Windows, stucco, roof, interior remodeling. Considering he hasn't put a dime into his Adobe, I would think he is expecting a big pay day.
The comments at 1:46pm and 6:58pm on July 13, reflect the lack of knowledge about the litigation about Highway One. There is no personal gain -- the people that are working in support of the environment and community values -- have been putting their pocketbooks on the table for the entire community. The not to covert innuendo that there is any wrongdoing here is sickening.
840, when you speak of "the entire community", I believe you and your "earth at sacrifice of City" ideology excludes most of us, the broader community who lives in this City parallel to your half-evolved universe.
I observe the havoc your Gang of No has cast upon the stunted progress of this City. Why? There is no excuse for it.
8:40
Plater and his goons always ask for legal fees. Only they know what kind of side deal he made with Boner and Loeb.
In California environmental law, the loser can ask the court for legal fees. Environmental attorneys are the modern day ambulance chasers.
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