About That Sanders Tort Claim Against City …

As you know, attorney John Magnuson announced plans to file a tort claim against the city for bringing the suit against East Lakeshore Drive owners to settle the high-water mark. He plans to sue for “not less than $8 million,” according to the Coeur d’Alene Press. That’s when he made that loopy statement: “We’re not stopping until we get to Baghdad.” (Sounds sorta like Dubya declaring that the war was over aboard that aircraft carrier after we reached Baghdad. You remember how that turned out.)

Before you all turn into a quivering bowl of Jell-O that the city might owe the East Lakeshore Drive homeowners money for their, ahem, emotional damages and loss of beach use, etc., you need to consider first that the Supreme Court didn’t award then legal fees. That’s a ha-huge indication that the Supremes didn’t consider the case frivolous. (BTW, I sought Scott Reed’s opinion on this.) Secondly, Magnuson should know that once a lower-court judge rejected his motion for summary judgment that meant he found some merit in the case. That issue was underscored when a judge set the high-water mark at 2130.

It’s one thing to huff-and-puff about suing the city for $8 million or $20 million or a zillion, it’s another thing to collect when you weren’t even awarded legal fees by a court that reacted a warp speed to give you the legal right to kick neighborhood families and kids off the beach. At this point, the only one who’d benefit from continued legal action is … the attorneys. Of course.