IRVINE : Parties Agree to Rush Gaido Suit

With the deadline approaching to hold a special election to fill an open City Council seat, attorneys for Mary Ann Gaido and the city of Irvine have agreed upon a rushed set of court dates for her lawsuit against the city.

Gaido sued the city last month, alleging that the special election shouldn’t be held and that she should be seated on the council. Under city election law, Gaido would have filled the open seat because she was the third-place finisher in the June council race. But a residents’ group filed a petition last month, calling for the special election.

Since the ballots for the special City Council election will be printed Aug. 31, a Superior Court judge agreed with the attorneys to hear Gaido’s lawsuit on that date rather than wait for the original Sept. 14 hearing, City Atty. John Fellows said Monday.

“We both want to cooperate to get this resolved as quickly as possible so there’s no cloud hanging over anybody during the election,” Fellows said.

If the judge sides with Gaido, the special election would be canceled and Gaido would take the open seat.

Gaido’s suit alleges that the election should not be held because the petition filed with the city contains numerous flaws. Proper procedures were not followed in gathering the signatures and other information from the registered voters signing the petition, Gaido contends.

The City Council disagreed, however, and called an election for Nov. 6 to fill the seat vacated by Sally Anne Sheridan, who was elected mayor.

Before the Aug. 31 hearing, Fellows will try to have the lawsuit dismissed and have the attorneys representing Gaido removed from the suit.

Fellows filed a motion Monday contending that Gaido’s attorneys, Stephen Coontz and Franklin J. Lunding Jr., have a conflict of interest with the city. The two previously worked for the city and could have an unfair advantage due to confidential information they might have received, Fellows alleges.

A hearing to consider disqualifying Coontz and Lunding has been set for Aug. 16.

Coontz, a San Juan Capistrano attorney, said that he and Lunding have no conflict of interest with the city. While working for the city on election matters, he said, they did not learn confidential information and based their work only on public city records.