TUSTIN : Legal Tussle Over Election Continues

Many city officials and residents were relieved when a Superior Court judge’s last-minute ruling allowed the City Council election to proceed in April.

But now it seems the lengthy and costly legal battle is not quite over.

Attorneys for Councilman Earl J. Prescott and former Councilman John F. Kelly, who opposed the April election in which Kelly was ousted, filed papers last week objecting to the final judgment proposed by attorneys for the city.

Although Judge David H. Brickner ruled on April 2 that the April 10 election could proceed, a written, final, judgment has yet to be issued. Prescott and Kelly’s attorneys say that he did not rule on certain points in the judgment proposed by the city’s attorneys.

Brickner refused to stop the election but did not rule on another lawsuit filed by Prescott and Kelly in which they claim former Councilman Ronald B. Hoesterey was not a resident when he voted to move the election to April.

“There’s a separate lawsuit going on that has never been dismissed,” said David Sprowl, attorney for Prescott and Kelly. “That’s still on file and depending on how that comes out, it could affect the results of the election.” City Atty. James G. Rourke acknowledged that possibility but said it is highly unlikely.

The lawsuit still pending was one of several actions filed by both sides in a battle over whether the council’s decision to move the City Council election from November to April was legal.