Judge Rejects Idea of Fraud in Vista Vote to Redevelop

Redevelopment foes suffered a serious setback Monday when a Superior Court judge rejected their claim that Proposition K, the successful measure that paved the way for the city’s urban renewal program, was on last November’s ballot illegally.

After a brief hearing in a packed courtroom, Judge Lawrence Kapiloff said the redevelopment opponents’ challenge to Proposition K was based on “the flimsiest of technicalities” and that to overturn its victory at the polls last fall would be “judicial arrogance.”

Although Kapiloff is scheduled to consider additional arguments at a hearing Feb. 19, forces sponsoring the election challenge conceded that Monday’s ruling was a near-fatal blow.

“It looks bleak,” said Patsy Filo, a community activist who spearheaded the court challenge. “I’d say we’re pretty washed up as far as this judge goes.”

Councilman Lloyd von Haden, meanwhile, seemed even less hopeful, noting that he was already laying plans for an initiative drive aimed at dismantling redevelopment in a future election.

City officials could not be reached for comment on whether the redevelopment program will now move forward.

Attorneys representing Vistans for Honest Government, a citizens’ group opposed to redevelopment, had asked the court to void Proposition K on grounds that city officials violated the California Election Code by failing to place on the ballot the full text of the ordinance creating a redevelopment agency.

Bob Glaser, a La Jolla attorney handling the case for anti-redevelopment forces, argued Monday that the city’s “failure to publish the ordinance . . . has injuriously affected the rights of voters . . . and quite possibly the results of the election.”

Because they were not presented with the precise ordinance language, Glaser argued, “the voters (were) denied a full set of facts on which to base a decision.”

Kapiloff disagreed, ruling that the pivotal question was merely whether the ballot carried sufficient material to enable voters to make an informed decision.

“I don’t think you have to have every little magic word (on the ballot),” Kapiloff said. “The question is, ‘Were people informed?’ ‘Did they have the information necessary to decide the issue?’ ”

Noting that the ballot carried a description resembling the text of the ordinance as well as arguments for and against Proposition K, Kapiloff concluded that voters were indeed adequately informed.

“I still believe the people are supreme,” Kapiloff said, explaining his decision. “And they ought not be overturned without a lot of evidence that they were misled.”

The judge dealt redevelopment opponents still another blow Monday, indicating that he may refuse to consider additional arguments due before him in February. At that hearing, Glaser plans to challenge the validity of an election recount, which he maintains was tainted because redevelopment supporters were permitted to handle ballots.

Kapiloff, however, said those issues have already been evaluated by another judge at a previous hearing and noted that for him to consider them “would make a mockery out of our (judicial) process.”

Monday’s hearing marked the latest chapter in the seemingly endless controversy surrounding Proposition K, a measure backed by civic leaders and downtown business owners and opposed by an equally tenacious coalition of slow-growth advocates.

On election night, the measure failed by a single vote. A day later, that margin widened to three votes after 40 absentee ballots were tabulated. A recount financed by Mayor Mike Flick, a redevelopment supporter, yielded a tie vote, but Proposition K still failed because it needed a majority to pass.

Flick extended the bizarre saga, however, by challenging in court six of 68 ballots that San Diego County Registrar of Voters Ray Ortiz had disqualified as improperly marked. In December, Judge F.V. Lopardo sided with the mayor, ruling that four of the disqualified ballots--all “yes” votes--should have been counted. Proposition K was proclaimed a winner.

Opponents quickly leaped back into the fray. On Jan. 13, Kapiloff temporarily barred the Vista City Council from launching the redevelopment program pending his ruling on the latest election challenge.