In Our Opinion: Taxpayers are the losers in mayor’s election lawsuit

Taxpayers are the losers in mayor’s election lawsuit

We’ve seen a lot of slick moves by past elected officials, but this latest one took us by surprise.
And you, dear taxpayer, are expected to pay for this latest stunt to the tune of $200,000, maybe more.
The “authority” of only two votes, from City Councilmembers Abu Musa and Yousuf Saed, OK’d covering the legal costs of Mayor Adam Alharbi. 
Just how that worked out is complex.
Further complicating the matter is that the vote is now being questioned as to whether it is even valid.
As it stands now, taxpayers would be paying for Alharbi’s private lawsuit – a lawsuit that was his choice to bring – to prevent the counting of 37 uncounted absentee ballots that were found after last November’s election.
(One extra ballot was also discovered, but it’s not part of his lawsuit.)
The mayor claims it’s about protecting the integrity of the election because the ballots could have been tampered with.
But, on appeal, the state court of appeals ruled that voters have a right to have their ballots be counted, despite the city clerk’s office failing to make sure all ballots were counted originally.
It was no fault of the voters that the ballots were not included in the election results. And the court said voters must not be punished for it.
On top of it all, Mayor Alharbi, of all things, complains about the increasing legal costs for the city.

We agree, and we know right where to start to save on legal fees.
Posted Aug. 7, 2026