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Council Candidate Robert Fox Will Host Victory Party Celebrating Measure M Lawsuit Win By Taxpayers Lejins and Kimball


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(Jan. 11, 2020, 3:50 p.m.) -- On Sunday Jan. 12, 2nd district City Council candidate Robert Fox will host a party celebrating the litigation victory of Diana Lejins and Angela Kimbal (represented by San Diego attorney Eric Benink and former LB Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske) in successfully challenging City Hall's Measure M utility revenue transfer ballot measure (LBREPORT.com coverage here.) In a Facebook dispatch, Robert Fox For Long Beach states:

Plaintiffs Diana Lejins and Angela Kimball will join us to celebrate this great victory, both for the water ratepayers of Long Beach and for the rule of law! We will toast both the plaintiffs and their attorneys, including most notably, former councilmember Gerrie Schipske (hopefully in person, if they can attend). All Long Beach truly owes them a tremendous debt of gratitude!

A Jan. 6, 2020 statement by the City of LB (city management) in response to the court's Jan. 2 ruling acknowledged that the City Council had "authorized the City to appeal any potential adverse ruling in September 2019." A check of City Council publicly agendized closed sessions shows the Lejins/Kimball litigation was among items scheduled for closed session discussed on Sept 3, 2019.

The Council hasn't held a closed session to discuss the Measure M litigation outcome since the court issued its 22-page ruling that rejected virtually all the legal defenses offered by the City.

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City officials proposed Measure M to enable LB's Water Dept.to transfer a percentage of its annual revenue (that the Water Dept. says isn't needed for its purposes) to City Hall for General Fund spending. Measure M also authorized the Water Dept. to replace the transferred amounts by raising rates paid by LB Water Dept. users. Roughly 54% of LB voters approved Measure M following a six figure campaign by a political committee operated by Mayor Garcia. On Jan 2, 2020, an L.A. Superior Court judge ruled Measure M unconstitional as violating Prop 218 (LBREPORT.com coverage here.)

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The successful Prop M litigation by Ms. Lejins (a 5th dist. resident) and Ms. Kimball (a resident of the L.A. County "island" south of Heartwell Park/east of Woodruff Ave.) follows a 2016 legal action they filed (also citing Prop 218 grounds) using the same legal team that produced a 2017 settlement ending City Hall-created "pipeline fees" -- imposed without a vote of the people -- that the Water Dept. collected and sent to City Hall for General Fund spending. Following the pipeline fee settlement, LB city officials moved to recoup sums they'd previously collected using the pipeline fees by creating Measure M.

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Following the court's Jan. 2. 2020 ruling that Measure M violated Prop 218, Ms. Lejins wrote on Facebook: "Finally a victory for the people, of the people, and by the people." She subsequently added in a Jan. 7 dispatch on the Long Beach Politics Facebook page that in her view, "the only way that this type of government corruption will be curtailed in Long Beach is if we elect new and different Council people" and encouraged donations to the Council campaigns of Robert Fox (2nd district) and Juan Ovalle (8th district) "It doesn't matter where you live. They will make a difference in your District and the entire city," Ms. Lejins wrote.

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Mr. Fox's "Measure M Overturned Victory Party" is scheduled from 6-8 p.m. Sunday Jan. 12 at E.J. Malloy's (in Los Altos), 5506 E Britton Dr.

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Support really independent news in Long Beach. No one in LBREPORT.com's ownership, reporting or editorial decision-making has ties to development interests, advocacy groups or other special interests; or is seeking or receiving benefits of City development-related decisions; or holds a City Hall appointive position; or has contributed sums to political campaigns for Long Beach incumbents or challengers. LBREPORT.com isn't part of an out of town corporate cluster and no one its ownership, editorial or publishing decisionmaking has been part of the governing board of any City government body or other entity on whose policies we report. LBREPORT.com is reader and advertiser supported. You can help keep really independent news in LB similar to the way people support NPR and PBS stations. We're not non-profit so it's not tax deductible but $49.95 (less than an annual dollar a week) helps keep us online.


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