Judge Leonhard has issued an opinion and order in the Champaign Southwest MTD v. Champaign-Urbana MTD (05-CH-206) case. Essentially, nothing changes. Attachment below.
My reading here is that on the issue of Constitutionality, Judge Leonhard ruled that CSWMTD had no standing. Whether that is appealable, I don't know. I also don't know if the question could be brought by a citizen who would have standing or if that would be barred by laches.
On the question of whether the statutes allow overlapping districts, Judge Leonhard ruled that they did not have to be read to preclude that and that case law, Bartholf v. Woodward, specifically allows for this. I attended the last hearing in this matter, and I got the sense then that this is where the judge was going. I personally don't think that the law in this instance was intended to allow that. The lawyers for both sides in this case took my position, but whether a trial court judge should fill in the gap for the legislature is certainly arguable. Now, it appears that a panel of appellate justices will be asked to do that.
The judge also made a ruling that the creation of the new district was valid and that the facts of the case did not support the CUMTD's assertion of bad faith on the part of the CSWMTD.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| CSWMTDOrder.pdf | 1.14 MB |
Elephants would have given birth by now but then getting justice is slow by intent. Looks like the Volk and his friends with the City of Champaign will get their tax funded attorneys going on an appeal since they believed the CSWMTD was a 'bad faith' effort given the forced annexation by CUMTD was within the law.
Mark, you're missing a point here. This was a set of orders on summary judgment, i.e. resolution without a trial. Your last paragraph is factually wrong - the judge ruled that summary judgment was inapplicable to the bad faith claim, and that it needs discovery and formal trial proceedings.
The issues before the court were:
Let's be clear. The southwest mtd was a brilliant and so far successful attempt at latter-day segregation. bus service would open the way for low-income apartment development in SW Champaign. Seceeding from the MTD was designed to keep the riff-raff on the north side of town.
Bunk, it was designed so the folks out here do not have to pay taxes for something they don't see themselves using. I don't know what specifically was referred to when it was said they did not form in bad faith but of course it was done in bad faith. They don't now and never intend to provide any mass transit. They do however wish to tax us to pay for the attorneys who want to keep us from getting mass transit. Go figure.
I don't see how "forming in bad faith" is any kind of legal argument.
"... it was designed so the folks out here do not have to pay taxes ..."
Which is kind of funny, because now they have to pay taxes to support their legal fight to keep the buses out.
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A Peek into the Campaign
Actually mp the buses are running, there is a CUMTD mini bus which I understand is 'on call' for a dollar you it will take you to Country Fair where you can get another bus. And they pay taxes to both districts. The sad part is the City of Champaign joined the CUMTD in this fight so all the Champaign tax payers are now funding the legal games.
I am not so sure the CUMTD annexation was valid as they annex much more area than is within the City of Champaign limits. Maybe that is the reason the City joined them to get more annexations i.e. more taxes. CUMTD does not need the money that is for sure.
"...they did not form in bad faith but of course it was done in bad faith." 'BAD FAITH' is that some type of new religion or is this a reference to the way the MTD annexed all those properties over the objections of the people at the public hearings?