Lawsuit filed against Mayor William Bell and other entities by the Birmingham Water Works Board.

The mayor of Birmingham is being sued over a power struggle between city leaders and the Water Works Board.

The lawsuit says it was filed on behalf of the Birmingham Water Works Board, but one member asked how that can be when she didn’t even know that the lawsuit existed, much less than it was filed.

Who truly made the decision to file it?

“I’ve been hearing things, seeing things on the news. I was unaware that we were filing a lawsuit,” Board member Sherry Lewis said during a Wednesday meeting. “When did this happen? Who was in the discussion?”

Lewis is one of nine members on the Birmingham Water Works Board, and said a few of them were blindsided that they had filed suit against the mayor, city council and two county commissions.

“We have a lawsuit filed against a lot of folk, I don’t know why, I don’t know when it happened, I don’t know who it was discussed with, there was no vote or anything. And I have a right to a vote as a sitting member of the Birmingham Water Works Board,” Lewis said.

Senior board members quickly voting to move the discussion behind closed doors.

They emerged after more than an hour of discussion. Lewis said she still doesn’t have the answers she needs.

“I don’t know. I’ve got to keep asking more questions. Every meeting I’ll be asking more questions. I don’t know any more specifics I can talk about, anything with pending litigation,” Lewis said.

When asked who made the decision to file this lawsuit, Lewis said their attorneys said she’s not allowed to discuss legal matters.

So for now, it’s a mystery for the public on who, exactly, made the call to file suit.