City is Out $700,000 in Fees When No Reimbursement Allowed.
As reported by Eric Paul Zamora in a June 17, 2013 post at the FresnoBee.com, City of Fresno’s request for reimbursement of over $700,000 in attorney’s fees has been rebuffed. The request was made in litigation by which it won minor changes to a proposed 2,500-home development in Friant Ranch, which is being pursued by the Bigelow-Silkwood family. Fresno County Superior Court Judge Mark Snauffer determined that the City was not the prevailing party entitled to recoupment of attorney expenses. Mr. Zamora’s article opines this decision will be a disappointment for a city struggling to balance its books, especially after the recent defeat of a trash-privatization initiative. We assume City was seeking fees under California’s private attorney general statute.
Outskirts of Fresno. On U.S. 99. Dorothea Lange, May 1939. Library of Congress.