San Juan Capistrano : City Won’t Join Suit to Block Corridor

Despite pleas from anti-tollway activists, the City Council this week voted against entering a legal battle aimed at halting construction of the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor.

“I don’t know what we can gain by a lawsuit,” Mayor Kenneth E. Friess said. “We’re not going to stop the corridor. We cannot stop the corridor.”

Friess was joined by councilmen Gil Jones and Gary L. Hausdorfer in voting 3 to 1 Tuesday against suing the Transportation Corridor Agencies over the proposed tollway.

Councilman Lawrence F. Buchheim, who owns property next to the tollway’s proposed alignment, abstained, citing a conflict of interest.

Jones said he voted against the lawsuit because of the city’s fiscal crisis.

“I will not take this city into another lawsuit I feel we are not adequately prepared for and don’t have the resources to pursue,” he said.

Councilman Jeff Vasquez was the lone dissenting voice. He asked council members to continue the fight they began when they voted not to certify the tollway environmental impact report, although the city was the only member of the 11-member tollway agency board to do so.

The council vote followed a plea to file suit from San Juan Capistrano resident Bob King, chairman of Save Our San Juan, a group dedicated to fighting the tollway.

“We need you tonight to have the courage to protect the people who elected you,” King said. “Don’t handcuff us.”