OPINION: We STILL Need Town Hall Meeting on Water War

Not to sound like a broken record, but we still need a Town Hall meeting on the water litigation with the Fairfax County Water Authority (FCWA).  I said this a few weeks ago in an opinion piece here, repeating a suggestion which had been made by a number of people around town.

In my view, it is time for City officials to hold a Town Hall meeting on the matter to let the public ask questions.  What is the history of this matter?  Why did we sue Fairfax County Water Authority in Federal court?  Why did FCWA then sue us in state court?  Why have we counterclaimed?  How much money is at issue?  What is being done to resolve the issue out of court?

We understand that there are questions the City will not be able to answer due to ongoing litigation, but there are many that can be answered, like those above.

Since then, as shown in the excellent reporting of our colleague George Bromley, things have only become more complex.  There are now two Virginia courts considering the same matter – the Fairfax Circuit Court and a Special Court in Hampton, appointed by the Chief Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court.  The Fairfax court is to hear FCWA’s suit against Falls Church City in September, and the Special Court will hear Falls Church’s countersuit in October.  This odd situation would seem to violate the principle of judicial economy,  i.e., that courts should not waste limited time and resources.  Here the opposite has occurred, with a Special Court appointed after the litigation had already begun in Fairfax Circuit Court.  Falls Church City recently asked the Fairfax court to give way to the Special Court.  No thanks, the Fairfax court replied – this case is ours.

Then Fairfax Circuit Court took away a small victory Falls Church had won earlier this summer.  In May, the court had allowed Falls Church to counter sue, adding the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors as a party.  But on August 14, the court effectively reversed itself, agreeing with Fairfax County that Falls Church had failed to provide evidence of a key element of its countersuit.

For the average resident of Falls Church, the case is opaque and confusing.  Normally, the average resident wouldn’t care, but in this instance the outcome is significant, with millions of dollars at issue during a difficult budget time for the City.   The litigation costs alone must be big.  In the transcript of an August 13th court hearing, the Fairfax County Water Authority’s counsel said that agency had spent nearly $1 million on the case already and that Falls Church City’s costs presumably have been equivalent.

Interestingly, former City Councilman David Chavern, who was on the Council at the time of the initial decision to sue, has said, “We should just sell the system to a private company (such as Alexandria has) and be done with this whole debate.  It is ridiculous.”   Which raises the question, regardless of what happens in court, should the City continue to own a water system or not?  Has consideration been given to selling it to a private company, as Chavern suggests?

The City owes the public an explanation in an open forum of how we got here and what our options are.   The City leadership should not hide behind the “Can’t discuss current litigation” refrain.  It has a moral obligation to explain what it can explain about both the litigation and the future of the system.