UPDATED: Sierra Madre Blogger Says He’s Filed Lawsuit Against City Over Recent Water Rate Increase

Update - Tuesday, May 10 - John Crawford, who is mentioned in this story as not returning our request for comment, eventually did reply with the following:

"F--k you, -sshole."

Update - 4:56 p.m. - City Manager Elaine Aguilar has just confirmed to Patch that the city has not been served with any lawsuit from the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Asked what might account for the city having not yet been notified, Aguilar said she did not know. "Normally we aren't informed ahead of time that something's been filed, so I don't have anything to compare it to," Aguilar said. "I can tell you that as of five o'clock today we have not been served with anything."

Original Story:

After months of demanding the city repeal its with accompanying , opponents of the rate hike announced today that they have now filed a lawsuit against the City of Sierra Madre.

Sierra Madre resident --who publishes the Sierra Madre Tattler blog and has emerged as the mouthpiece of against the city’s handling of the rate increase process--made the announcement Monday on his blog.

In an article posted Monday, May 9, titled “The Sierra Madre Water Rate Lawsuit Has Now Been Filed with the California State Superior Court for Los Angeles County,” Crawford said that a "Verified Petition For Writ Of Mandate And Complaint For Declaratory Relief" has been filed with the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

The announcement goes on to say that the suit was filed on Friday, May 6, with Crawford himself listed as the petitioner and attorney acting as his attorney.

Here's in part what Crawford said in Monday's Tattler post:

"Here is the problem. The people charged with running the affairs of the City of Sierra Madre defaulted on their Proposition 218 responsibilities in a most cynical and manipulative way. The manner in which the water rate increase process was conducted showed precious little concern for the rights of those who are expected to shell out the additional money City Hall craves. I have no doubt that in time the truth in this will be evident to everyone."

As of Monday morning, a representative from the Los Angeles Superior Court was unable to provide any information on the case or verify that the lawsuit had been filed.

But , who spoke with Patch from Washington, where he is traveling to meet with Congressman David Dreier, said he was aware of the lawsuit, though he said City Manager Elaine Aguilar told him the city had yet to be officially served by the court as of Monday morning.

While Aguilar could not be reached for comment, Moran expressed his displeasure with this latest development in the protracted battle between the city and rate hike opponents.

“If this [lawsuit] has indeed been filed, then it is being filed by people who don’t hold the best interests of Sierra Madre in mind,” Moran said in a telephone interview.

Referring to those individuals spearheading the effort to engage the city in a legal battle over the rate hike, Moran said that there might be ulterior motives at play.

“It’s a group of small-minded individuals who are probably still upset about the last election,” Moran said referring to the most recent city council election in which John Crawford mounted a failed campaign to win a seat on the Sierra Madre City Council. “This is nothing but petty, childish behavior from those still upset about losing the election and losing the .”

The 2010 Sierra Madre election ended with Josh Moran and Nancy Walsh winning two of the three council seats up for grabs, and Joe Mosca being reelected to fill the third seat.

Sitting Council Member Don Watts, as well as candidates Pat Alcorn, Bill “Eagle” Tice and Crawford were all defeated.

Zimmerman, who is also a former council member and mayor of Sierra Madre, did not return a call requesting comment on the suit.

Similarly, Crawford has yet to respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit, though we'll keep trying to reach him.

Patch will update this story as we get more information about the lawsuit and a copy of Crawford's official complaint.