Developer Sues Malibu Council : Newspaper Ad Triggers $10-Million Libel Action

As the largest commercial developer in a community where the ruling political body is controlled by staunch no- and slow-growth advocates, Roy Crummer has been an easy target for the steady stream of slings and arrows fired by the Malibu Township Council.

But recently Crummer decided to fire back.

After seeing his name published in a biting newspaper ad that ran in the Malibu Times and in the township council’s newsletter, Crummer sued the council and three of its members for libel. Crummer is seeking more than $10 million in damages from the group, which he claims launched a scurrilous attack “without any regard for the truth.”

The suit underscored the decades-long political battle in Malibu over coastal development and brought to the forefront numerous critics of the township council, who have become increasingly dismayed over the group’s tactics to win support.

The council, the largest civic group in Malibu, led an unsuccessful fight last month to stop Los Angeles County supervisors from placing a sewer in Malibu without a vote of the residents. And it is responsible for launching the cityhood effort to wrest control over development from the county.

Mixed View of Council

Although many Malibu residents applauded the group’s efforts to limit haphazard growth in the area, several community leaders have been appalled by the council’s methods, especially its reliance on strident rhetoric in its newsletter and flyers.

The group further enraged longtime supporters recently when, after more than a year of study, a citizens committee that included Crummer and three members of the township council endorsed a medium-size sewer system for Malibu. However, almost immediately after the committee unanimously voted to recommend approval of the system to supervisors, the township council disassociated itself from the proposal and said that its representatives on the committee did not speak for the group.

And although the township council sparked the cityhood movement, some members of the Malibu Committee for Incorporation attempted to distance themselves from the council because of its unpopularity in some circles.

“The township council performs an effective function, and they have to be given credit for the many ad-hoc movements they’ve led,” said Peter Arnold, president of the Malibu Chamber of Commerce. “But their approach tends to be highly confrontational. They’re rather hostile to those that don’t agree with them and often they just overstate their case.”

Crummer’s lawsuit was based on published statements by the council that ran shortly before county supervisors approved a $43-million sewer system for Malibu on Jan. 12. Last week, the township council filed a lawsuit to block the sewer plan, charging that homeowners have been saddled with unfair sewer fees while businesses and large landowners reap a financial windfall.

Before the Jan. 12 meeting, the group took out an ad in one of Malibu’s two weekly newspapers to try to raise money for its anti-sewer campaign. It used the space to blast Crummer, Pepperdine University and a lawyer for the Adamson Cos., another large landowner in the area.

Called ‘Super Rich Roy’

The ad labeled Crummer “Super Rich Roy” and charged that he unfairly used his “considerable financial and political clout” with supervisors to pass on the costs of the sewer system to homeowners. The ad was bordered by the word “shameful” 40 times.

And in the township council’s newsletter, the group charged that Crummer and others have given millions of dollars in political donations to supervisors to get approval for the sewer, which, they say, will lead to “the long-anticipated orgy of development.”

The developer said in the last eight years that he has contributed less than $10,000 to Supervisor Deane Dana, whose district includes Malibu, and hasn’t given any money to the other supervisors. The township council devoted an earlier newsletter to Dana, referring to him as “Sewer King Dana.”

The group also took a shot at Crummer’s newly constructed shopping mall in the Civic Center, suggesting that it is the beginning of massive development in Malibu.

Crummer responded with his libel suit, alleging that he suffered humiliation, mental anguish and emotional distress because of the written comments. He charged that the group’s allegations are “false and misleading” and “go beyond all bounds of decency such as to amount to outrageous behavior.” The lawsuit also names council President Larry Wan, treasurer Frank Basso and member Carl Randall.

“When they lie about me, they’d better get their facts straight,” Crummer said. “I’m fed up with their bullying tactics and tired of their personal attacks on people. I’ve taken plenty of shots from them before, but this time they went too far. I want them to stop telling lies about me.”

Defends Action

Wan defended the group’s action and called the libel suit an attempt to distract attention from the township council’s legal fight against the county-approved sewer plan.

“That’s our interpretation,” Wan said. “Unfortunately, the courts today are too often used for lawsuits of this kind.”

Wan, Randall and other members of the township council declined to discuss the specific charges in the libel suit.

However, several community leaders said the suit could be particularly damaging to the group’s credibility in Malibu. The township council, which is similar to a residents group and has more than 1,000 members in the community of 20,000, is by far the most powerful and the richest political group in Malibu, raising nearly $100,000 to fight the sewer proposal. Yet several leading community figures have left the organization in recent years, expressing dissatisfaction with the group’s views.

“They’ve turned many intelligent people off by some of their irresponsible rhetoric,” said Dr. Susan Reynolds, head of the Malibu Emergency Room and vice president of the Chamber of Commerce. “Certain things they represent are good for the community, but the rhetoric and negativism that they engage in need a lot of improvement, and somebody needs to take them to task.”

Leon Cooper, a former president of the township council and one of its most outspoken members, did not deny that the group is often contentious, but said its behavior is justified by the relentless attempts by the county and some developers to destroy some of the natural beauty of the beachfront community. He said the group should be credited for leading the fight to block a county proposal to build a recreational vehicle park at Zuma Beach and praised for its efforts to create Malibu Lagoon State Park.

“The Malibu Township Council has a long and illustrious history of defending issues that will benefit the community,” he said. “We’ve been able to prevent some disastrous things from happening.

“I’m pretty contentious myself,” he said. People in the group “get excited about things that we think are grossly unfair. Some of the things that go on here make me angry, and I vent my spleen. But just because some of us have a short fuse doesn’t mean that the cause is unjust.”

Stirred Emotion

The suit has stirred much emotion in the community. Ronald A. Carpol, Crummer’s attorney, said he has received several “hate calls” from township council supporters. However, he said, most of the callers praise Crummer for taking on the council.

Crummer said he considered ignoring the group’s written remarks but decided that he was fed up with the council’s view “that they can say whatever they want about anybody they want.”

“These attacks are so personal and petty that it reminds me of the type of name-calling you would see in grammar school,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with criticism and with disagreements among people, but there are limits. If you attack people or issues, you should do it in a responsible way.”