City Government

Vallejo Achieves Victory in Green Valley Waterbill Lawsuit

Published

11 years ago

August 26, 2014

The City of Vallejo achieved victory yesterday against the multimillion-dollar lawsuit brought by Green Valley customers to lower their water bills.

Superior Court Judge Arvid Johnson dismissed the suit, rejecting each of its 12 legal theories. Green Valley Landowners Association (GVLA) sought nearly $13 million in damages, arguing that Vallejo customers should have shared in the cost of upgrades to a water treatment facility that serves only Green Valley.

In January, when the lawsuit was filed, Vallejo City Attorney Claudia Quintana commented, “California tightened its water standards years ago and this resulted in higher costs for water in the Lakes Water System area. This was due in part to a $7.25 million debt to pay for statutorily required improvements to the water treatment plant that provides water to customers specifically

Claudia Quintana

< p class=”p1″>located in the Green Valley area. In prior years, customers residing in less-affluent Vallejo subsidized customers in the Green Valley system, but legally, that subsidy had to stop.“

Quintana added, “Judge Johnson’s ruling is a significant victory for Vallejo as it continues to implement changes – such as halting this type of subsidy – which allow the City to better manage its resources and ensure its financial stability.”

Judge Johnson agreed with the City’s argument that Proposition 218, a statewide initiative passed by voters in 1996, requires Vallejo customers to pay only their fair share. He rejected GVLA’s argument that because Vallejo customers had subsidized Green Valley in past decades, they committed to help Green Valley customers in the future.

Judge Johnson, who retired five years ago, was brought in to decide this particular case after multiple recusals by Solano County judges due to their ties to Green Valley.

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

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2 days ago

June 7, 2025

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

1 week ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.