WESTMINSTER : Embattled Official Will Appeal Rulings

City Councilwoman Lyn Gillespie said Wednesday that she will appeal court rulings that allowed her former campaign manager to repossess her car and receive part of her council salary as payment for a delinquent debt.

Gillespie, 35, is in a legal dispute with former campaign manager Harvey Englander, who says he is owed $16,000 for work on her successful 1988 campaign, plus legal fees and interest.

Gillespie said she is willing to pay Englander for his work but disputes the $16,000 figure and says Englander has refused to discuss a payment schedule.

A bench warrant was issued earlier this month for Gillespie’s arrest after she missed a May court date, but she appeared in court Tuesday before she could be taken into custody. She said she was released on her own recognizance and has promised to appear at a court hearing July 15.

During Tuesday night’s council meeting, marshals impounded Gillespie’s 1988 Ford Bronco parked at City Hall so that the vehicle could be sold at auction to pay Englander.

On Wednesday, Englander said: “This escalates it. Hopefully now she will do something. I’m pleased she’s not being arrested. I don’t want her arrested; I want to get paid.”

Englander has accused Gillespie of using illness as an excuse to avoid repaying him and appearing in court, noting that she has continued to attend council meetings. Gillespie, who said she has been found to have Epstein-Barr, or chronic fatigue, syndrome, said her doctor had advised her to avoid the stress of legal appearances.

Gillespie plans to hire a lawyer and ask the judge for permission to keep her car because it is her only means of transportation to her doctor’s office in Anaheim. She will appeal a judge’s decision to award $105 of her monthly council salary of $500 to Englander, saying she needs that money to pay medical expenses.