IRVINE : League Backs City on Seating of Gaido

The League of California Cities has supported Irvine’s contention that it is not legally obliged to seat Mary Ann Gaido on the City Council.

In a letter to the state Court of Appeal, the league opposed a court order in Gaido’s favor. The letter supports Irvine’s contention that Superior Court Judge Eileen C. Moore should not have applied the state elections code Aug. 31 when she ruled that Gaido was entitled to an open seat on the council.

Since Irvine has adopted its own charter of laws, the city laws should spell out election procedures, not the state laws, Irvine argued in its appeal. An appellate court hearing is scheduled Oct. 9.

In a meetingWednesday, the league’s Legal Advocacy Committee voted to support Irvine’s appeal.

“It is an extremely important legal issue,” said JoAnne Speers, the league’s legal counsel. “It relates to charter city powers, and central to the notion of what a charter city power includes is this issue of control over elections,” Speers said. “The state Constitution specifically gives charter cities the right to govern their own elections.”

Eighty-four of the state’s 457 cities, including Irvine, have adopted charters to govern themselves. The remaining cities are governed by general state laws.

Although the Superior Court ruling sets no legal precedent, it erodes law-making power granted to charter cities, City Atty. John L. Fellows said. He had asked the league to file a “friend of the court” brief in support of Irvine’s case, he said.

Irvine’s charter spells out how openings on the City Council should be filled when a council member is elected mayor. In the June 5 election, Councilwoman Sally Anne Sheridan was elected mayor, leaving her seat open.

The charter says the runner-up in the City Council election fills the opening. But a provision allows residents to collect signatures from 7% of the city’s registered voters calling for a special election to fill the seat. Residents gathered the signatures, prompting Gaido, the runner-up, to file suit. She alleged that their petition was misleading because it didn’t specify that an election wasn’t needed.

Moore ruled in Gaido’s favor and ordered her seated.

But Fellows, in the city’s appeal, said that Moore used laws in her ruling that don’t apply to charter cities.

On Monday, Fellows also submitted newspaper clippings to the Court of Appeal, intending to show that Irvine residents weren’t misled by the petitions.