Mark Koeneman wrote: "So how much has the city spent to date litigating this matter?"

Excellent question Mark!  I'm surprised there wasn't more detailed mention of the costs involved in the story as reported.  Is the City doing it's own legal work or are we paying contract lawyers (patronage) to do the work that the Municipal legal department should be doing?  Maybe an aspiring reporter will be assigned by a no nonsense editor to pursue the matter further.  But I'm not going to hold my breath.  :)