Having spoken in front of the Council on three separate occasions against the refund plan that was previously approved, and having helped design this one, I would like to say that I support the Council's stance on this issue. I believe the Council is on firm legal ground; there may or may not be more negotiations to come, but I am confident all five Council members have the best financial interests of the Town at the forefront of their efforts to conclude this matter.

Not only did Steve Ackley's firm design Ms. Lewis' home in a way that failed to conform to Atherton's zoning ordinance, Ackley was a major contributor to Lewis.

I can see only one possibility as to why no reportable action occurred. Jerry Carlson made a motion to accept the results of the mediation, and it failed for the lack of a second because Lewis was forced to recuse herself.

If there was a vote, then it would have been a reportable action.

Perhaps the District Attorney should interview each of the members of the Atherton City Council to find out what really happened in regards to the Ackley matter.

This wouldn't be the first time the Atherton took action in closed session and refused to report out as required by law.

The road impact fee is legal by the way, no matter what Charles Marsala (one who sought out Ackley for political contributions) says.

For a legal opinion on the matter one can check with the Los Altos Hills City Attorney. Los Altos Hills hasn't rescinded its road impact fee.

1. What were the individual votes for/against this legal settlement? According to THE LAW, Atherton must publish this vote from an action taken in closed session.

2. Why did JIM DOBBIE try to shout Melinda Tevis down in this meeting? This was just WRONG. Everyone has a right to make their comments. If Elizabeth Lewis wanted to respond, I think that's okay, but not by interrupting Ms. Tevis. She should have been given time after Tevis' comment to say her piece.

When Ackley's looses this lawsuit, the Town will be free to adopt a new road impact fee.

The Town and not Ackley is going to be laughing all the way to the bank on this one.

See SJ Mercury article:
"Atherton council rejects settlement of road fee lawsuit

By Bonnie Eslinger

Daily News Staff Writer
Posted: 03/17/2011 10:40:24 PM PDT

The Atherton City Council has rejected the proposed settlement of a lawsuit filed last August by a local developer who contends the town illegally charged $298,000 in road impact fees.

As a result, the town could end up fighting the suit in court. "We remain confident in the legal arguments of our case," said Leah Castella, Atherton's special litigation counsel. "The settlement was always contingent on council approval."

Castella said she couldn't discuss why the council decided in closed session not to settle."

*****************

Clearly a decision was made and the votes on that decision must be made public. Alternatively, criminal charges should be brought against Castella for disclosing what the council did in closed session (Section 54963 provides that a person may not disclose confidential information that has been acquired by attending a proper closed session to a person not entitled to receive it, unless the disclosure is authorized by the legislative body.)

Atherton special counsel says "We remain confident in the legal arguments of our case".

In reply to this assertion I must ask why did the City Council approve the repeal and refund of road impact fees in the first place?

I would also ask how Elizabeth Lewis voted on the matter and did her vote constitute a conflict of interest?

Something doesn't smell right here.

I agree with Mr. Carpenter. This mess should be referred to the public corruption unit of the San Mateo County Office of the District Attorney.

Peter, The Almanac story says PPG lowered the amount of their payback demand, which is not in the Merc story you pasted from. You ought to be reading the Almanac more closely.

I am disappointed that Elizabeth Lewis has been supporting someone who has sued the Town he lives in and has done so much business in, very successfully. This is someone who should be giving back, not trying to take away. I would like to understand who voted for this settlement and who voted against it, Mr. Carpenter. That would help to illuminate whatever special interests may be at work here.

Leah Catsella used to work for the same firm as Wynn Furth, McDonough Holland and Allen.

This firm collapsed after losing a series of high profile cases in State and federal court.

The fact that Ms. Castella would express such confidence in defending the road impact fee makes the Town's decision to do away with road impact fees when she was a partner of Furth's at the old firm makes the Town's about face all the more difficult to understand.

As much as a problem the current city attorney has been for this Town, I do not see this issue as originating with her bad legal work.

Charles Marsala and Elizabeth Lewis were in the pockets of big development, and got rid of a perfectly legal road impact fee as payback to their political benefactors. Of course it's clearly legal since as Mr. John Johns pointed out, even neighboring Los Altos Hills has it and there have been no problems there, perhaps since that city is managed without the interference of development interests with its politicians.

Marsala and Lewis recruited Jerry Carlson to go along with the elimination of the fee and the refund, mainly because Carlson figured if McKeithen was against it, he should be for it. Furth issued a legal opinion consistent with what she perceived the majority vote was as part of job preservation, like so many other bad opinions issued since she's been here.

Now there's a new council, and my guess is that Widmer, Dobbie and McKeithen nixed this settlement over the endorsements of Lewis and Carlson.

Where the city attorney is now at fault is providing political cover for Lewis and Carlson, assuming they voted for the settlement, by not publishing the votes.

Next time, the Atherton Town Council should consult with experts from the road user industry for input.

I love this idea!

The Road Impact Fee was instituted over a decade ago. It was thoroughly vetted by the City Attorney and the Town's auditors. The analysis used to update it throughout the years was impeccable.

The Town's problem with the Road Impact Fee started with Charles Marsala. Marsala sacrificed the quality of the Town's infrastructure to pay back his developer friends.

Marsala owed Steve Ackley for giving financial contributions to Elizabeth Lewis and other political allies of Marsala.

Marsala's behavior was corruption and cronyism at its worst.

That guy Ackley is a real piece of work.

I remember when he and his wife were at a City Council meeting to protest the Town's action to prohibit his occupying the pool house they built.

Steve Ackley's wife got up and complained to all that they built the pool house so that their children could have a place to play.

This is a pool house that the Town issued a red tag on because it did not to conform to the Atherton's fire safety standards.

What kind of mother would allow their children to play in a structure that was unsafe?

I don't understand one aspect of this and perhaps someone with detailed knowledge such as Mr. McPherson can explain it.

I understood that Atherton collected a road impact fee, contended it was legal, but overcharged what could be legally assessed, and refunded this overcharged amount.

The current lawsuit contends all of it was illegal and wants the baseline portion back as well.

If the fee is legal (as it is apparently in neighboring communities), why did Atherton stop charging even the baseline amount? I thought there was a shortage of revenues and that would be an obvious revenue source. I suspect the current lawsuit is thriving on the ambiguities created by this behavior.

Question
Will Ex Councilman Charles Marsala be testifying on behalf of the Town or the Peninsula Pacific Group, when this gets to court?