About Town
Oil gambit Attorneys for the city will ask the state Supreme Court to dismiss a $500 million breach-of-contract lawsuit by an oil company that once planned to slant-drill under the Pacific Ocean from city-owned land. The move comes on the heels of an important ruling by a state appeals court that allowed the city a new line of defense, but stopped short of dismissing the lawsuit as city officials had hoped. Now they hope the Supreme Court will take the appeals court ruling “one step further,” City Attorney Michael Jenkins said Tuesday, shortly after the City Council authorized attorneys to seek a hearing before the high court. “We think that this case can and should be dismissed without the necessity of a trial,” Jenkins said. He said only 5 percent of such requests win a hearing before the Supreme Court. If the city secures a hearing, it would be the second successful long shot in a row – city officials said they had only a 2 percent chance of securing the recent appeals court hearing. Pound foolish? The lone faux pas in Mayor Michael DiVirgilio’s State of the City address came as he was showing slides of culturally accomplished Hermosans and their institutions, including the…
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