While we won a monumental Court victory over Buehler Park, it is important to remember the near-insurmountable hurdles that we had to overcome to do so. To save Buehler Park we raised $40,000 to put up an injunction bond which we came close to losing. Great Rivers donated hundreds of hours of attorney time which would have cost $100,000 at a private law firm. Scores of citizens worked for a decade to make the continued existence of Buehler Park a reality.
Meanwhile, the City's legal expenses were paid for with our taxes. City officials, who risked nothing, did not even bother to ask the Attorney General for a free opinion on the validity of the Buehler Park dedication. They expressed their disdain for ordinary citizens and their belief that they are above the law in numerous ways.
Through legal maneuvers, such as arguing that citizens had no standing in Court and asking the Court to sanction our attorneys, they did everything possible to keep the issue of the validity of the dedication from being litigated.
After they won the first Buehler Park case on the issue of Citizen Standing, they sued for the $40,000 injunction bond which the citizens had filed, claiming exorbitant expenses. The Court ruled that the City lost nothing due to the citizen action.
When they were finally forced to argue the validity of the dedication, all they could muster was inane arguments like "park purposes only and none other" includes paving over Buehler Park and storing park equipment there, an argument the Court found "hyper-technical and hollow."
After claiming that Buehler Park is unsafe because of its proximity to Kingshighway, the City still refuses to construct a safety fence protecting park users from the highway traffic. After years of neglecting Buehler Park in favor of ill-conceived economic development schemes, the city claims it can't afford to replace playground equipment or bathroom facilities which it has removed or torn down.
Some at City Hall have even resorted to spreading rumors that those of us who defended Buehler Park are responsible for the miserable one percent salary raise that they gave their employees.
The Court System worked in this case. The Courts upheld the law and the dedication of Buehler Park to public use as a park. But, had it not been for Great Rivers, or the ability of Rolla citizens to raise thousands of dollars on short notice, Buehler Park would be gone forever, and the Law would have been flouted with impunity. Sadly, it is all too common that those who are responsible for upholding the Law, ignore it; while those who would uphold the law, lack the resources to prevail in Court.
The Law should be reformed to make it easier for ordinary citizens to challenge the actions of public servants who refuse to obey the law. Citizen standing should be automatic in cases where the legality of the actions of public officials is brought into question. If the Law had required the Courts to go directly to the legal issue of the validity of the dedication rather than first litigating whether citizens had standing in Court, this battle would not have dragged on for ten long years.
Further, citizens, who are acting in the public interest, should never be required to put up large sums of money to halt activities they believe are illegal. In addition, the Law must assess penalties against public servants who attempt to flout the law. At the very least, the City should have been required to pay expenses and attorney fees for the citizens who successfully defended Buehler Park.
Over the years, I have discussed this sort of legislation with State Senator Frank Barnitz, State Representation Bob May and former State Senator (now Treasurer) Sarah Steelman. None of these legislators appeared to have any interest in introducing legislation that would reform the Court system. I hope the 2008 legislative session will see a change in attitude in Jefferson City concerning citizen access to the Court system.
Finally, this Court battle could have been avoided if qualified people with the public interest at heart would run for public office, and the people would elect them. Unfortunately, there are large numbers of uncontested elections at the local level, and voter turnout in local elections rarely exceeds 30%. I hope to see renewed interest in electing public-spirited citizens to local office in 2008.
Tom Sager
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