Cawdrey to Continue Legal Fight to Run for 3rd Council Term

Redondo Beach City Councilman Ron Cawdrey announced Thursday that he will file an appeal in his legal fight to stay on the council.

Less than two days after a Torrance Superior Court judge rejected Cawdrey’s lawsuit asking that it throw out Redondo Beach’s two-term limit on council membership, Cawdrey said he must appeal the ruling “as a matter of principle.” He and his attorney said that appeal will be filed today.

“Yes, I’d like to be on the (March 5) ballot, but is it a primary concern? No, not really,” Cawdrey said. “The primary issues now are the constitutional ones--the people’s right to vote for anyone they choose--and the city clerk’s ministerial duty to accept papers from any and all candidates.”

Last month, City Clerk John Oliver refused to accept nomination papers from Cawdrey, who shocked his council colleagues by deciding to defy the city’s 1975 term-limitations law by seeking a third term.

Cawdrey’s attorney, Barry Fisher, contends that Oliver had a duty to accept the documents and place Cawdrey’s name on the ballot, even if he believed that Cawdrey could not serve if elected.

Five other candidates are listed as contenders for the North Redondo Beach District 5 seat.

Cawdrey filed suit in January against the city and Oliver, contending that cities cannot impose term limitations because the state has jurisdiction over questions of eligibility to hold office.

But Judge William C. Beverly Jr. upheld the voter-approved limitation Tuesday, calling the issue a local affair outside the state’s control.

City officials said they intend to immediately print sample ballots for the upcoming election, without Cawdrey’s name on them.

Fisher said Thursday that he hopes an appellate court will overturn Beverly’s ruling quickly enough to allow time for the city to send out a second round of ballots with Cawdrey’s name on them.

City ordinances call for the ballots to be mailed out no later than 10 days before the election, he said.

“I think there’s a political side to the urgency that they’re insisting is necessary for the preparation of these ballots,” Fisher said.

The decision to appeal “was based on the firm conviction that we’re right,” Fisher said. “That may sound corny . . . but (Cawdrey) is carrying an important banner--the rights of people to elect representatives of their choice.”

Cawdrey estimated that he has paid his attorney $8,000 of the roughly $15,000 he owes him. Cawdrey has no idea what the appeal process will cost, but he expressed concern that he will not be able to collect enough campaign contributions to pay the bill.

“I’m concerned enough that I don’t sleep well at night thinking about it,” Cawdrey said.

In a financial statement covering December that was filed Thursday, Cawdrey reported that a large portion of the campaign funds going into the battle are from Western Waste Industries and its officials.

Of $4,075 Cawdrey collected in December, the statement shows, $1,500 came in three $500 donations from Western Waste, its chief executive officer, Kosti Shirvanian, and its vice president, George Osepian.

Western Waste has several hundred thousand dollars in exclusive waste hauling contracts pending with the city, most of which are not scheduled for ratification until after the March 5 election.

Other donors include: Redondo Beach Marina, $500; Blackjack Sportfishing Ltd., $500; Steve Shoemaker Enterprises, a harbor-based business, $300, and Georgia Boulie, office manager for another business owned by Shoemaker, $100.

Cawdrey said in an interview Thursday that he has collected at least $6,000 more this month but that he could not recall who the primary donors were.