Seal Beach : City Ordered to Explain Refusal of Signatures

The City of Seal Beach was ordered Friday in Superior Court to explain why it has refused to accept signatures on a petition to put a slow-growth measure to a vote in a special election.

A court hearing for that purpose was set for Nov. 6 in a suit against the city initiated by Bruce Stark, a founding member of the Seal Beach Preservation Group (Spring). The group has been circulating a petition since Sept. 18 in an attempt to force the special election.

The city has argued that the petition is being circulated in violation of the state Elections Code. Because the group’s notice of intent to circulate the petition was published in the Los Alamitos News-Enterprise instead of the Seal Beach Journal, any signatures collected on the petition are invalid, City Clerk Joanne M. Yeo has said.

Stark estimated that more than 1,000 signatures have been collected so far.

Commissioner Jane D. Myers ordered the city Friday to accept the group’s signatures or defend its position at the Nov. 6 hearing, said Christina Sierra, a lawyer for the city. In addition, the city was ordered to advertise and take bids for the city’s legal notices, which are currently published exclusively in the Journal, Sierra said.

Sierra said the city would contest both points at the hearing.

Stark said he was “delighted” at the court’s order.

City Manager Robert Nelson said the hearing would give the city a chance to present its side of the issues.

“We’ll have to present our arguments. So far, the only person to present their arguments to the court is Mr. Stark,” Nelson said.