ALTHOUGH some might like it to go away, the voter discrimination lawsuit filed in federal court against the Guam Election Commission by Dave Davis is apparently going to have to be settled, one way or another. It can’t simply be ignored.

Davis filed the suit last November. Yesterday he spoke publicly about the lawsuit for the first time since then, during the weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Guam at the Marriott Hotel. He said his team of high-powered lawyers in Washington D.C. gave him permission to discuss the suit and its current status.

Although the lawsuit cannot be ignored, Davis apparently can be, as no other daily news organization came to cover the speech except the Variety. Davis writes a weekly column for us, and has for seven years, so we were pretty sure he would have some relevant, interesting information to share.

We weren’t disappointed. For the first time the word “settlement” was used. The Guam Attorney General’s Office has filed a motion to dismiss the case, on the rather unusual grounds that the proposed self-determination plebiscite is meaningless. It has no meaning or effect.

No hearing has yet been scheduled on that motion, or on the case, and Davis said the earliest a hearing is likely to be scheduled is sometime in November. Federal Judge Francis Tydingco-Gatewood has given the case over to Magistrate Judge Joaquin Manibusan Jr. for initial evaluation and recommendations.

“It would be a tragedy if this case doesn’t settle before GovGuam spends hundreds of thousands of dollars, ultimately to include my attorneys’ fees,” Davis said. “The law under which we are suing would also require that GovGuam pay the significant costs of my expert witnesses.” That assumes, of course, that Davis prevails. But betting on the case being dismissed could be very expensive.

Davis went on to point out “there is an easy and relatively inexpensive way to settle this case that would allow the wishes of Chamorros and others to be known without violating any civil rights laws. My attorney has presented this model to the government of Guam.”

“I nevertheless fear that some of the more radicalized elements in our society are perfectly content to run your tax dollars over a legal cliff, simply due to some sort of activist bravado. That’s easy to do when you’re working with other people’s money.”

It was the first time we’ve been made aware that a settlement possibility has been put on the table. Attorney General Lenny Rapadas should consider it very carefully.