recognizing that in modem times governments have retained sovereign immunity "to protect the public treasury"
How later courts described this case
- recognizing that in modem times governments have retained sovereign immunity "to protect the public treasury"
- concluding that plaintiff’s estoppel argument sought to foreclose defensive issued raised by defendant city in response to plaintiff’s breach of contract claim
- ‘The City’s argument that [the contractor] cannot maintain its breach of contract claim for damages in excess of the $600,000 contractual cap unless there is a properly executed written amendment is in reality an argument that the contract claim will fail on the merits.”
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
DAVID WELLINGTON CHEW, Senior Judge,
concurring.
While I concur with the result, I respectfully disagree with the premise that the weatherization project, the focus of this case, is of no direct benefit to the City. As a city representative twenty-five years ago, I arranged for fans to be given to residents of the tenements in El Paso’s second ward. I think that was a direct benefit to the City. Likewise, the services provided here for the benefit of low- and moderate-income persons by making their homes energy efficient, and have a significant impact on water conservation for the evaporative coolers typically used on low- and moderate-income apartments: Indeed, it was not that long ago that the City gave direct cash rebates for replacing evapo-rative coolers with refrigerated air conditioning to conserve water. Almost two-years ago, I wrote, in a different vein: “Without water, the prospect of economic growth in El Paso is simply dust.” See Chris Roberts, (2012, Aug. 6) “El Paso City Re. Courtney Niland’s push to sell PSB land questioned,” El Paso Times, pp. Al. I think such a conservation service is a direct benefit to the City. I concur.