City Hall Gadfly--and Her ‘Fans’--All Get Day in Court

Mayor Maureen O’Connor was there.

City Manager John Lockwood was there.

Former City Manager Ray Blair was there.

Former City Council member Bill Cleator was there.

And so was Rose Lynne.

The woman that Cleator characterized in a later interview as “an irritant and an aggravation” had subpoenaed some of San Diego’s top leaders to testify at her very own trial, which opened Friday in Municipal Court:

The City of San Diego vs. Rosalyn Switzen, which is how her name appears on the arrest report dated Jan. 13, 1987.

On that date, Rose Lynne--who said her name was legally changed when she ran for mayor in 1986--made one of her frequent and often stormy appearances before the San Diego City Council. The topic of discussion: Tecolote Canyon.

Chance to Speak

Lynne, 73, said she came to discuss the matter but never got the chance. Lynne admitted she hadn’t submitted the paper work necessary for a council appearance. O’Connor gave her the floor and a one-minute time limit anyway.

When Lynne’s monologue clung to “ombudscience,” her passion and lifetime pursuit, and never ventured near Tecolote Canyon, O’Connor ordered Lynne to stop. When she resisted--and did so belligerently, according to the mayor’s testimony--police officers intervened.

The former science teacher and self-described civic “gadfly”--a household name in council circles--was then charged with a misdemeanor violation of Section 403 of the city penal code: Disturbing a public meeting. The maximum fine is six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

O’Connor, called by the defense, said afterward that Lynne was “given numerous chances” to settle the matter before trial.

“But no,” O’Connor said, “she wanted a jury trial. She wouldn’t have it any other way. And now she’s costing the taxpayers thousands of dollars.”

O’Connor was asked on the stand if Lynne had any prior arrests for disturbing a meeting.

“No,” she said, “but it wasn’t because the behavior wasn’t there.”

Asked if the penal code is often cited to “disruptive influences,” O’Connor said angrily, “Yes, and she’s the most disruptive,” a remark stricken from the record.

O’Connor said later that Lynne had been “much more of a disruptive influence lately” and that “everyone connected with the city has bent over backward to try to accommodate her eccentricity.”

O’Connor said Lynne constituted a dilemma for those in power: The City Council must pay heed to individual citizens but not at the cost of making a mockery of civic government while “wasting everyone’s time and money.”

Breaking Point

The sense communicated by O’Connor and others was that “the Lynne problem” had reached a breaking point. While some have said the city looks bullyish going after an elderly woman, O’Connor argued that something had to be done--now.

“Those kinds of disturbances just can’t continue,” she said. “They’ve got to stop somewhere. Too many others are being affected, while the process of government slows.”

Robertson Whittemire, a speechwriter for former Mayor Roger Hedgecock, testified on Lynne’s behalf and said later the city was “overreacting.”

“Rose Lynne has a lot to offer,” he said in testimony. “She’s extremely bright. She’s an excellent teacher. Too often, people refuse to listen to her ideas because of her demeanor . . . her manner.”

In an interview, Whittemire said, “People have never taken the time to understand Rose Lynne, who does have an irritating manner. A lot of what she says about behavior is evident in the council: They are resistant to ideas, to change. She talks often of the abuse of power, and, I’m afraid they’re guilty of it, in this and other cases.”

Definitely Persistent

Whittemire, who said he had taken Lynne’s two-hour Ombudscience training seminar and was favorably impressed, called her ideas “thought-provoking” and added, “She isn’t crazy. How do you define crazy? Out of touch with reality? She knows what she’s doing, knows what’s going on. Eccentric? Sure. Persistent? Definitely.”

Whittemire said he was defending Lynne because he “resented” the council regarding her as “poison.”

“They won’t listen,” he said. “They won’t take the time to get past . . . appearances, images. Instead she spends all of her time trying to get what she terms a ‘listening climate.’ ”

Former City Manager Blair and successor John Lockwood testified that Lynne had appeared before the council “numerous times,” often incurring warnings for unruly behavior. Lockwood said he had discussed the matter with the city attorney, trying “at least to limit” Lynne’s speaking time.

Lynne called the arrest a “set-up” and part of a “five-year conspiracy” against her. She said former councilman Cleator had often “heckled” and “provoked” her, a claim he conceded was “not unfair.”

Cleator testified that he, too, had discussed with the city attorney ways of limiting Lynne’s speeches or making them more germane to council affairs.

‘Harder to Handle’

Cleator said little on the stand but afterward, in an interview, was angrily outspoken.

“The city should have stopped her long ago,” he said. “She’s an irritant and an aggravation. Everyone connected with the council has shown a tremendous amount of patience with her--too much patience. As the days, weeks and years (of Lynne’s council appearances) went by, she got more and more aggravating and harder to handle. It got to be a ridiculous waste of time, an absurdity. Her lack of concern for other people’s time and needs is appalling, and we ought to stop putting up with it.”

In courtroom tangents that sometimes took minutes and often left even Judge Robert J. Stahl Jr. chuckling or suppressing grins, Lynne said she was an expert in behavioral science who had come to San Diego more than 40 years ago. Once, out of context, in a wordy non sequitur, Lynne said she was training 200 women to run for Congress. She said she wanted to discuss canyons on the ill-fated day but never got the time.

“I love canyons,” Lynne said. “What you people are doing to canyons is dreadful. You people don’t understand canyons, as we synergists do.”

Lynne said that “for one whole year” she had asked O’Connor to give her time.

“I said, ‘Please, pretty please and pretty, pretty please,’ ” she testified. “I used to say to the council, ‘You’re allergic to great solutions. You don’t mind good solutions, you just won’t tolerate great ones.’

“But you know something? They didn’t even listen to that. “

The Lynne trial continues Monday in Municipal Court.