Thomas Can’t Be Called Incumbent in Council Campaign, Judge Rules

A Superior Court judge sided with Inglewood City Council candidate Garland Hardeman on Friday and ruled that Ervin (Tony) Thomas cannot portray himself as an incumbent for the remaining two months of the campaign.

Thomas’s 1987 election to the council was annulled a few months after he took office because the court found that Thomas campaign workers intimidated voters and improperly handled absentee ballots on Election Day. Thomas, however, remained in office for almost two years, until this May, when appeals in the case were exhausted.

Judge Dzintra I. Janavs on Friday approved a preliminary injunction that bars Thomas, his attorneys or his campaign workers from portraying Thomas as an incumbent during the campaign.

Must Change Statement

The judge also concurred with a writ of mandate that forces City Clerk Hermanita Harris to eliminate all references to incumbency on Thomas’s candidate’s statement. Both rulings will become official when signed by the judge next week, according to the court clerk.

“We have shown that Tony Thomas has no integrity,” Hardeman said Friday. “He will use any illegal means necessary to misinform voters, to cheat voters out of their ballot. If you have to use illegal means to win an office, you don’t deserve it.”

“Hardeman is a real crybaby,” Thomas responded in an interview Saturday. “He should go out and conduct a mature, adult campaign and stop crying. He can’t solve all his problems by running downtown to court.”

Thomas called the ruling an “inconvenience” that will have no great effect on his campaign strategy. “It’s just a matter of semantics,” he said. “Let’s take the election back to the people. They know that I served as their councilman.”

Jack Ballis, the assistant city attorney who represented the city in support of Thomas, could not be reached for comment Friday.

The decision was criticized as “ridiculous” by Councilman Anthony Scardenzan, a Thomas supporter.

“As far as I’m concerned, the judge is wrong,” he said. “Tony Thomas sat on the council for two years, and he did everything an elected official on the council is supposed to do. We know that many judges make wrong judgments. We have to accept it.”

Hardeman sought the injunction and the writ in July when Thomas submitted a candidate’s statement that said he was elected two years ago and urged voters to reelect him Oct. 3. The Election Code says candidates cannot pretend or imply that they are incumbents “when that is not the case.”

While Hardeman argued that the annulment prevented Thomas from using the word reelect , Thomas said Hardeman could not change the fact that Thomas was a voting member of the council for two years.

“Mr. Thomas was never elected,” Hardeman attorney Mark A. Grannis said. “The very concept of an annulment is that the election never happened. It’s a nonentity because the apparent victory was won by violating the Election Code.”

The ruling orders the city clerk to change the phrase “when you first elected me your councilman in 1987,” to “when you first voted for me as your councilman in 1987.”

The ruling would also change the sentence, “Thank you for voting to reelect a good neighbor--a great councilman--Tony Thomas,” to, “Thank you for voting to elect a good neighbor--who will be a great councilman--Tony Thomas.”

After discussion, the parties to the lawsuit suggested the wording, and it was then ordered by Janavs.

Thomas, in comparing his situation to that of Muhammad Ali and singer Vanessa Williams, said last week that his service to the community will remain no matter what the court decides.

“Ali came back and regained his championship, and Tony Thomas is going to come back and recapture his seat as a councilman,” Thomas said. “Vanessa Williams--her title was taken away as Miss America. She was still known as Miss America. That cannot be taken away.”

Ali was forced by the World Boxing Assn. to give up his title as heavyweight champion when he refused induction into the Army during the Vietnam War. Williams was forced to step down as Miss America in 1984 after Penthouse magazine printed photographs of her posing nude with another woman.

The decision was downplayed by Thomas supporters and praised by the Hardeman camp.

“I think this is a victory for fairness in the electoral process,” Grannis said. “It’s commonplace that people can omit the truth by leaving some facts out. The judge is saying we don’t want the voters to be misled.”

“It’s a great day in Inglewood today,” said Terry Coleman, a Hardeman campaign worker. “I’m proud to see that the justice system is working. Now it’s up to the voters.

‘Proceedings Are Ridiculous’

Donald Robinson, who voted for Thomas in 1987 and plans to support him again this year, said most voters are tired of the legal maneuvering and are ready to have the election resolved at the polls.

“I don’t think this case should have ever gone out of Inglewood,” he said. “All the court proceedings are ridiculous. It’s a waste of money and time.”

Hardeman, however, said he wouldn’t be surprised if the courts have to mediate the election again.

“I don’t think it will be the last time we go to court, because I don’t think this will be the last time they commit an illegal act,” Hardeman said.