An angry contingent of Colfax property owners attempted to force the Colfax City Council Tuesday night to validate a sheaf of 383 protest letters as a binding rejection of the city’s proposed sewer rate hike.

The council received the letters during a rancorous, three-hour public hearing at the Sierra Vista Community Center.

However, they refused to recognize the letters as valid until City Clerk Karen Pierce could verify each rate protest letter. That process could take several days, and the council deferred announcement of the results until a continued public hearing on Tuesday, July 8.

Tuesday was the deadline for property owners to file written or oral protests to a steep increase in their sewer service rates. Under the provisions of California Proposition 218, a utility rate increase can be prevented if 50 percent of property owners, plus one, protest the rate hike.

Approximately 100 people attended the hearing, and about two dozen spoke – often out of turn. Mayor Jim Albright was hard pressed to keep the public hearing under control.

At one point, Placer County Sheriff’s Deputy Matt Bourland took the most vocal protester, Jeff Williams, aside and explained to him that he would be kicked out of the meeting if he did not adhere to proper decorum.

Although many people used the forum simply to vent their frustrations and distrust of the motives of the city government, the protest organizers were intent on getting a decision out of the council Tuesday night.

“We need to stop this now,” said Williams, arguing that Proposition 218 required the protest letters be counted that evening.

Protest organizer Kathy West, who had possession of the 383 letters, was also upset the council would not accept the letters at face value and count them on the spot.

Council members, backed up by City Attorney P. Scott Browne, argued the law required that each letter be verified – and that couldn’t be done Tuesday night.

“This is treated with the same sanctity as an election,” Browne said.

Just because the protest letters had to be submitted no later than July 1 did not mean they could be officially tallied the same day.

When polls close at 8 p.m., that does not mean an election is decided, he explained. The elections clerk must certify all the votes before an election is official.

“You’re setting yourself up to lose the protest,” warned Aaron Klein, a Colfax resident and a member of the Sierra College Board of Trustees.

Klein took it upon himself to advise the rate protesters on the finer points of governmental procedure. He appeared to have more success than the city council and staff in convincing the protesters to turn their letters in without demanding an instant count.

“Trust the process,” Klein said. “The whole city is watching. There’s no way to pull a fast one.”

After much angry debate, Williams, West and the other protesters finally agreed to turn the stack of letters over to City Clerk Karen Pierce, who promptly began date-stamping each letter to indicate it had been received by the deadline.

Another point of contention West pressed tenaciously was that the property-owner list she and the other organizers were given on June 20 was not the list the city would be using to tally the protests.

She threatened to sue the city if it used a different list than the one she had been given.

“We have to go with the [county] assessor’s list,” Browne said flatly, adding the law requires the city to use the “latest equalized assessor’s parcel roll.”

City Manager Joan Phillipe explained the June 20 list was still undergoing verification by Pierce at the time the protest group obtained the list. The difference between the June 20 list and the final list was “minor,” she added.

Browne said the June 20 list was “probably 99 percent accurate.”

Again, Klein advised the protesters that challenging the list might be counterproductive to their cause.

During the course of the long, tense evening, several people attacked the integrity of the city council and staff. Williams called the city management “bloated.”

Property owner Jim Payne, who lives in the Bay area, accused the city of “double-dipping” by charging both him and his tenants for sewage service on the same property.

In an unusual move, City Finance Director Dau Luc took the podium. Freely admitting that speaking out might cost him his job, Luc stated, “I’m going to stand by the city.” Clearly offended by Payne’s remarks, Luc continued, “I can guarantee the city is not making any money” (by double-billing).

Councilwoman Sharon Gieras was also offended by remarks made by some of the speakers. “There’s nothing sinister going on here,” she said.

Amidst the acrimony, some people urged a less adversarial approach to solving the sewage rate dilemma.

Robby Robinson got everyone’s attention when he said, “We’re killing our town. We need to be working together to keep Colfax together.”

He advised everybody to “take a couple steps back” and concentrate on finding an alternate solution to the sewer rate problem.

Continuing his role as a peacemaker, Klein told the gathering he was much more upset with the state and federal governments that are imposing these unfunded mandates than he was with the city council.

Another rate protester, Margie Livingston, stood up to say that while she didn’t agree with the council, she did respect the work they were doing and that they had a “thankless job.”

Lost in the heat of the evening’s debate were two items worthy of mention.

First, commenting that some people have called for a grand jury investigation of Colfax, City Manager Phillipe proudly presented the just-released 2007-08 Placer County Grand Jury Report, which commends Colfax for its responsible and prompt efforts to deal with the city’s wastewater problems.

Second, Phillipe reported that if the rate increase is rejected, the city would lose about $30,000 a month in revenues.

And City Finance Director Luc said the city would be going into deficit spending “soon.”

Not lost in the heat of the Tuesday’s debate was the memory of Gary Todd, who died Monday of a heart attack at age 69.

The popular Colfax businessman was one of the organizers of the rate hike protest – as well as being involved in many other civic activities, including Colfax Pride Inc. Councilman Joshua Alpine called for a moment of silence in honor of Todd.

Colfax Pride President Ken Delfino asked the council to fly the flag at half-mast in honor of Todd.