The following letter to the editor was published in the Beach Reporter newspaper (TBRnews.com) on Thursday, March 29, 2012 in the Letters section. The Beach Reporter has a strict 250-word limit.
A city saved
As a 16-year civil defense attorney, there is no question in my mind that the settlement with Macpherson is exceptional for Hermosa. We now face, at most, $17.5 million in exposure. For 14 years, we faced potential exposure of $750 million, and the lawsuit hung over our city like a black cloud.
Hermosa faced bankruptcy; it no longer does. The chance of losing at trial was significant and there would be no escaping a significant judgment against Hermosa.
Bankruptcy would curtail the city and its residents from deciding many issues concerning city governance because a bankruptcy trustee would be intimately involved with all such decisions after liquidating some of the city’s assets.
What’s left is a decision on slant drilling on Sixth Street. If the voters elect to allow slant drilling, so be it. Hermosa would not only be relieved of paying back $14 million of the $17.5 million owed to E&B, the city and school district would potentially receive future revenue from E&B.
If the voters say “no,” so be it also. Hermosa will come up with a way to repay E&B’s loan. Paying back $17.5 million to E&B will divert other uses for such money, but it will not cause Hermosa to go bankrupt.
No one should question the wisdom of this settlement, or the work of Kit Bobko and Mike DiVirgilio in getting this done for us. To Kit and Mike, thank you. You truly saved our city.
Marc Zimet
Hermosa Beach
El Segundo Police Officers' Association (ESPOA) Exposed