The Cupertino Courier

Resident 'bills' city for water-lease deal

Monta Vista neighbor says Cupertino owes him $1,987 for his 'share' of the utility

By Pam Marino

An angry Monta Vista resident last week presented three councilmembers and three city employees with a bill for $1,987--the amount he believes is his share of Cupertino's water utility.

The act at the Nov. 3 council meeting by 29-year resident Robert Levy came just one month after the city officially signed a 25-year lease with the San Jose Water Company for nearly $7 million.

In September other angry residents packed the City Council chambers to protest leasing the utility, which serves 4,200 customers on the western end of the city. Despite their protests, the council voted 3-2 in favor of a lease.

"It wasn't a rational decision; it was a greedy decision," Levy said of the vote.

City officials disagree.

"Part of leadership is to do what's good for the community as a whole, and that's what the Council did," City Manager Don Brown said Monday.

The bill he presented is due in 30 days, Levy said; he offered a 10 percent discount if the bill is paid within that time period. "Please don't delay. I'll need that money to pay my water bills," Levy said in the statement.

The bill is just the first step, Levy said. He intends to take the three councilmembers who voted for the lease--John Bautista, Don Burnett and Michael Chang--and City Manager Don Brown, City Attorney Chuck Kilian and Public Works Director Bert Viskovich to small-claims court for his share.

City Attorney Chuck Kilian said Levy's bill is being treated like any other claim against the city. The claim will probably be denied; how it might be considered at the small-claims court level is yet to be seen, Kilian said.

"He has a right to go through small-claims review," Killian said.

The day after Levy presented the bill, he sent copies to other residents who spoke at the September public hearing, encouraging them to join him in billing the city officials and taking them to court.

"I'd be delighted if I could find an attorney who could file a class action suit against the city and those six individuals," Levy said. He is also interested in de-annexing Monta Vista, including the water utility, from Cupertino, and possibly requesting to join Los Altos.

As of last week, Levy was working alone, but he is expecting other residents to join him in the protest.

Although city officials consider the lease a done deal, and something that benefits the entire city, the resentment among some longtime Monta Vista residents still runs deep. They claim they have been cheated because they paid into the water utility to pay off bonds and compile a $2.5 million contingency fund, a protected account that was merged into the general fund at the time of the lease.

Some City Council candidates said they talked to residents on the campaign trail who were still upset by the lease. Incumbent Don Burnett, who came in third place in last Tuesday's election and received less votes than he did four years ago, said he believes he lost votes were over his support of the lease.

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