In what may be the final blow in a more than six-year legal battle, a Monterey Superior Court judge ordered Measure O plaintiffs Angie Morfin Vargas and Mark Dierolf to pay the city of Salinas $229,423 in legal fees, the city announced this morning.

Vargas and Dierolf took their case alleging that the city improperly campaigned for the 2002 ballot measure all the way to the state Supreme Court, where justices agreed the city didn't illegally spend taxpayer's money in disseminating information on Measure O.

The attorney fees will go toward the work of the city's appellate counsel Joel Franklin. "We are gratified by the Court's ruling and look forward to collecting the award as soon as possible on behalf of the Salinas taxpayers," Mayor Dennis Donohue said in a prepared statement.