WATER SUIT MANUEVERS … some may have wondered what happened to that lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the city’s newly instituted water rates, rates we are paying at this very moment … well, the city of Davis — the defendant in this case — filed a “motion to bifurcate writ proceeding re water rates” with the Yolo County Superior Court, causing the defendants (Yolo Ratepayers for Affordable Public Utility Services) to cry “foul ball” …

The city, noting that it has already given away the store on this water deal and signed several binding agreements in blood, pleads on one knee that “This lawsuit impacts and will impair or delay project and subject the city to additional costs under the JPA if the validity of the city’s water rates is not resolved in the next few months.” … given that the city has known about this lawsuit all along and went ahead with the JPA despite that knowledge, the plaintiffs, Yolo Ratepayers, are telling the court that the city’s pain is a “self-inflicted wound.” …

Adds our taxpayer-supporter city attorney: “The city stands to suffer substantial prejudice if the validity of the Ordinance 2405 water rates are not decided promptly. If the city misses its deadlines under the JPA or is required to revisit its new rates as a result of this litigation, the city will be liable to Woodland for costs incurred and will also have to reimburse Woodland for its reasonable costs for having to redesign the project.” (See “self-inflicted wound” above) …

Obviously, we’ll be hearing much, much more about this in the days and weeks ahead, with the fate of the free world hanging in the balance …

PLAY BALL … as predicted here and elsewhere several moons ago, Bill Dodd has now added his name to the ever-growing list of hopefuls running for the seat in the 4th Assembly District that is being vacated by Davis’ own Mariko Yamada … with Dodd’s addition, we now have enough candidates to fill the roster of an entire men’s basketball team … and yes, I did say “men” … all five candidates are male, despite the fact this is a seat traditionally reserved for a woman from Davis … not only are all five players on this team male, all five are also Democrats, which means we may have to play donkey basketball …

While most Davisites assume this thing eventually will turn into a showdown between Mayor Joe Krovoza and Mayor-in-Waiting Dan Wolk simply because none of us has ever heard of the other three candidates, it’s almost a certainty one of those two will be knocked out in the primary … our relatively “new” primary rules give no respect to the political party of the various candidates … the rules are simple: the top two vote-getters in the primary move on to the general election … the other three go back to what they were doing before they got the hair-brained idea someone might actually vote for them for higher office …

Looking at this homogenous field, however, I still think there is an opening for a female candidate and possibly even a Republican candidate … gender still plays a role in politics, so much so that I’m considering undergoing a sex-change operation so I can toss my bonnet in the ring and take advantage of all the graft and per diem payments that come with the job … the other candidates might not let me on their all-boys basketball team, but I do think I could make the race interesting …

I have formed an exploratory committee and have begun taking campaign donations — cash only — so I can buy a new BMW to cart me around to rallies and pancake breakfasts in this vast district … if you’d like to contribute, I promise to spend your money wisely and, if elected, represent you well … the more you contribute, the more I’ll represent you …

— Reach Bob Dunning at [email protected]

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