Portland water lawsuit loses a round
With our recent trip and the hoopla of yesterday's election, we've managed to neglect mentioning that the folks suing the City of Portland over misuse of water and sewer revenues lost a round in court last week. The judge threw out one of the plaintiffs, and issued a ruling that could limit the amount of money shuffling that the city has to do if the complainants prevail.
That's unfortunate, but we hope that the challengers of City Hall mission creep keep their eyes on the prize. If the court ultimately declares that the city's politicians and bureaucrats broke the law, and enjoins them from doing it again in the future, the city's residents will have been well served.
| Posted at 4:00 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (3)
Another reason why we need a choice in the election of judges. As usual, the majority of the judges running in the primary were unopposed.
Posted by Tom D. | May 16, 2012 6:34 PM
"Another reason why we need a choice in the election of judges. As usual, the majority of the judges running in the primary were unopposed."
There's no question that there's a lack of contested judicial seats. If Oregon paid judges more than a fraction of what they could otherwise earn in private practice there might be more competition. But having to run for office is a distraction that diverts time and energy from an already large backlog of cases.
For my two cents, it would be better if state judges were simply appointed and left alone to do their jobs. Yes, each one would bring his or her personal biases but at least it wouldn't devolve to judges campaigning for public office by making promises to special interest groups and cheapening the value (and increasing the cost) of justice, such as it is.
Posted by jmh | May 16, 2012 7:12 PM
I know the county elections people hate me...
I voted straight down the ticket for every empty spot when there only a single candidate.
Posted by tankfixer | May 16, 2012 8:43 PM