In the great film “Chinatown,” Jack Nicholson’s character, Jake Gittes, is a private investigator who becomes hopelessly entangled in a large drama playing out over the Los Angeles landscape in 1937, when L.A. water interests ruthlessly gobbled up water from California’s Owens River Valley.

The grand tapestry and the dark powers behind it prove to be too much for Jake and he cannot prevent the pathos that unfolds. At the famous end of the movie, a friend pulls him away from the tragedy and says, “forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.”

Now comes Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach, who has little in common with Jake Gittes — other than the fact that he finds himself frustrated by an all-powerful monolith, an immovable object we all know as Colorado Springs Utilities. A little more than a year into his first term, Bach is learning that while it may be tough to fight City Hall, it is darn near impossible to do battle with Springs Utilities.

This week he suggested Utilities should help pay for stormwater improvements. Bach also asked the City Council to reconsider its decision to invest $121 million in clean coal technology at the Martin Drake Power Plant in central downtown.

The council, which makes utilities decisions as the Utilities Board, isn’t about to do either of those things. All of the power and responsibility for Utilities rests with the council.

Two-thirds of the city’s voters backed a strong-mayor measure in 2010. There’s no doubt they wanted a stronger executive, but whether they wanted the executive to have more influence over utilities — as Denver’s mayor has — can only be guessed at.

The architects of the strong-mayor ballot measure were not ambiguous. They specifically fenced the mayor out of having influence over utilities and they were criticized for that in this space at the time.

At a City Council meeting there are debates about issues and citizens present alternative viewpoints. At Utilities Board meetings all the information comes from one source — CSU. The panel makes decisions based on what it has heard.

No one ever says “no” to Utilities, a $1.5 billion operation. Mr. Mayor, many local reporters have dared to question Springs Utilities over the years and you can join the club.

Bach and the council have bickered. Both sides have contributed to the dysfunctional relationship.

It falls to the City Council to place measures on the ballot, so don’t look for Bach to gain leverage over utilities. If anything, the council will seek to de-claw the mayor somewhat.

We could encourage the mayor to take a more active role. Or we could say “forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.”

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Listen to Barry Noreen on KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 FM and 1240 AM at 6:35 a.m. on Fridays and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. He can be reached at 719-636-0363 or barry.noreen@gazettedev.gazette.com