Lawsuit for Disclosure Lost

After four years and an out-of-pocket expense of more than $22,000, Hermosa Beach Councilman Roger Creighton has abandoned his efforts to get a former city official to divulge private financial records that Creighton contended should be made public.

Creighton, who began his battle before being elected in November, 1987, gave up after an appellate court last month ruled against him. It upheld Torrance Superior Court Judge Gary Hastings, who ruled that Creighton had no legal grounds for checking into financial records kept by former Councilman George Barks in connection with trips to Hermosa Beach’s sister city, Loreto, Mexico.

Barks organized several trips from 1983 to 1985, collecting money from city officials and others to pay the group’s hotel bills and transportation costs. Creighton, long known as a City Hall watchdog, contended that Barks had acted in his official capacity and should account for the trip’s finances. Some expenses of officials had been reimbursed by the city.

After a lengthy dispute, Barks refused to open his records for inspection, and Creighton sued in 1986. Judge Hastings held in February, 1987, that the association sponsoring the trips was a private, nonprofit group made up of public officials and private citizens and that disclosing its finances would violate the privacy rights of people who were not officials.

Moreover, the judge concluded, the lawsuit was “clearly frivolous.” He ordered Creighton to pay court costs and the city’s legal expenses of $21,982 in defending then-Councilman Barks. Creighton paid those costs last week. He declined to say how much he spent for his own attorney.

“This ruling does not stem or stymie in any way my efforts to see that all public records are open to public view,” he said.

Barks, who could not be reached for comment, lost his bid for reelection in 1986.