City & Developer appeal ruling
Delays Lengthen Process
In September of 2024, the City of Galena and David Hooten, would-be developer of the Parker resort, chose to appeal the Court's decision nullifying the City's approval of the development.
The Appelate Court set an early January 2025 deadline for the City and Hooten to submit their briefs challenging the lower court's decision. However, the City and Hooten have requested an extension. We now expect those briefs to be filed in mid-February.
Based on a typical timeframe, it seems unlikely that the Appellate Court will issue an opinion before the next City Council and mayoral election, which is on April 1.
Related to the issue of City government, we are glad to see that the HUSH Report is again being published in The Flash and keeping track of how much the City is spending on legal costs to defend the Parker. That total, as of Nov. 4, is over $174,000.
Of that total, roughly $70,000 of it has come after it lost in the lower court. The City could have stopped then and accepted the decision. Instead, it has chosen to continue spending taxpayer money to defend its "right" not to give citizens an opportunity to ask cross-examination questions at city hearings.
The total amount the City will spend is only going to grow as the appellate process plays out.
The City's choices have forced Wendy Clark to keep paying legal fees for a lawsuit she won nearly a year ago and "won" again in August when the Court refused to reverse its primary decision.
According to Clark's estimates, over half of her legal expenses are directly caused by the City's delays and unsuccessful attempts to get the lawsuit thrown out or overturned.
Thanks to contributors, she has been able to keep going. She will need your continued support, both financial and otherwise, to keep fighting this battle. It is an important fight because it is for a transparent and responsive City government.
We wish we had more positive news to report, but we do wish good things ahead in 2025 for the citizens of Galena!