GARDEN GROVE : Williams Barred From Using ‘Mayor’

Mayor W.E. (Walt) Donovan has won a temporary restraining order that bars his opponent, City Councilman and former mayor J. Tilman Williams, from using the phrase “re-elect Mayor Williams” on campaign signs, with a new round in court scheduled today.

Donovan said he successfully sought the order Wednesday after a woman called him at home and asked to speak to “Mayor Williams.”

Said Donovan: “I told her that I’m the mayor, and I’m Walt Donovan.”

Orange County Superior Court Commissioner Julian Cimbaluk issued the restraining order that bars Williams from “publishing, circulating, (or) displaying” any campaign material that says he is the mayor. Williams has twice served as Garden Grove’s elected mayor, first in 1976-78 and then in 1987-88.

Donovan was first elected mayor in 1988.

Williams denied that the large red, white and blue signs claim that he is the current mayor, and calls the lawsuit “another one of Walt Donovan’s dirty tricks.”

Williams said he doesn’t believe the order requires him to make any changes in signs now posted in the community.

A formal Superior Court hearing on the dispute was scheduled for Oct. 31, but given Williams’ interpretation of the order, said Richard Levine, Donovan’s lawyer, he will be back in court today seeking enforcement of the commissioner’s decree.