Covina : Targeted Councilman Sues

A member of a residents group behind an attempt to recall all five City Council members for approving a 6% utility tax said Councilman Chris Lancaster has filed a defamation suit against her over a letter published in a community newspaper.

Doris Wells said she was served with the lawsuit Dec. 23 in a package wrapped like a Christmas present.

The suit, filed that day in Pomona Superior Court, alleges that her letter, which appeared Dec. 17 in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, would cause readers to conclude that Lancaster “has used his position as a City Council member in a dishonest manner tending to cause a loss of reputation . . . “

In the letter, referring to Lancaster’s 1992 council election campaign, Wells said: “Next, we learn that Mr. Lancaster raised the cost of this year’s election by sending out absentee ballot applications with his name on. Yes, you guessed it at taxpayer expense!”

Lancaster and his lawyer did not return telephone calls.

Although conceding that her letter may have been poorly written, Wells said it was not malicious.

She said her letter referred to the added cost of processing extra absentee ballots that were a result of a campaign mailer that had an absentee ballot on the back; the mailer was distributed and paid for by Lancaster.

Earl Purkiser, treasurer of the recall committee, said the group has gathered more than 4,200 signatures for each of the five council members. Four thousand valid signatures must be filed with the city by Jan. 15 to force a recall election.