By: Libi Uremovic, January 23, 2014 | Original Article at Patch.com
On December 16, 2013 the City of Beaumont filed Civil Case no. RIC 1314072 against the Beaumont-Cherry Valley Water District and ‘Does 1 through 100’ for $377,053.05. The City is not only suing the District – they plan to collect money from the individual Board Members.
The lawsuit states:
3. “Beaumont is ignorant of the true names and capacities of defendants sued herein as DOES 1 through 100, inclusive, and therefore sues there defendants by such fictitious names. Beaumont will amend this complaint to allege their true names and capacities when the same have been ascertained with specificity. Beaumont is informed and believes and thereon alleges that each of these fictitiously-named defendants either (a) claims some right, title, estate, lien or interest in the property adverse to Beaumont’s title; (b) is responsible in some manner for the acts and/or omissions herein described; and/or (c.) proximately caused the injuries and damage to Beaumont as herein allege.
4. “Beaumont is informed and believes and thereon alleges that defendants, and each of them, are and at all times mentioned herein were, the agents, servants, representatives and/or employees of each of the other defendants and, in doing the things herein alleged, were acting within the course and scope of their authority as such agents, servants, representatives, and/or employees, and were acting with the knowledge, permission, consent, and/or authorization of each of the other defendants”
The City can not sue the Water District’s Employees and Board Members. In order to sue board/council members personally it has to be proven that the board/council members personally profited from the transaction. The Board did not profit in any way.
It is the Beaumont City Manager and Council that financially benefit from authorizing construction projects in the City, not the Board Members or Employees of the Water District. It is an insanity that the City would bring up the topic of employees and board/council members benefiting financially as a point of order because not only does the City have to prove that the District’s Employees and Board Members benefited financially, but they will have to prove that their own Council Members and City manager did not benefit financially.
The lawsuit states that the City relocated the Water District’s pipes without permission. The City enacted the rights of Eminent Domain on the Water District’s property without a court order. The City can not recoup money from the District because they never had the District’s permission to work on the pipes. The City has no legal recourse and any attorney should know better.
This lawsuit is brought by William J. Ward of the Law Firm Ward & Ward in Redlands. Any decent lawyer would refuse this case because they know they would lose, but this is government money so from the lawyer’s perspective; there is nothing to lose.