No Apologies

A commenter named Local Gal suggested I should “retract your personal attack and apologize” for my latest post on the lawsuits filed by Paul Kendall and his merry band of plaintiffs.

Sorry. I won’t be doing that.

Another commenter, Bob O, observed that I “seem a bit emotional about this.”

Since I do respect the readership of Tales of Two Cities, I feel somewhat obligated to explain why I won’t be apologizing and why I will continue to proffer acerbic commentary on these plaintiffs and their attorney, Susan Baker Gray.

It’s simple. I’m angry.

I am angry about the reckless abuse of our judicial system. I believe these litigants know full well that the odds of them prevailing in these actions are formidable yet they continue, forcing the county to expend taxpayer money responding to them.

Worse, since the judicial process can be unpredictable, there is always the outside chance that some judge may rule their way. If that occurs it would have a devastating impact on the economic health and quality of life in our county. The fallout from reversing fifteen years of zoning and land use decisions would spawn countless other lawsuits engulfing the county in a litigation tsunami that could bankrupt the county; great for the lawyers, very bad for the rest of us.

I think the county’s attorneys captured my view perfectly when they described these lawsuits as “vexatious, frivolous litigation designed to harass and intimidate public officials and to simply delay and obstruct any development with which they personally disagree.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.