VENTURA : Local Judges Will Not Hear Keys Case

All Ventura County Superior Court judges have disqualified themselves from hearing any cases that involve the dredging of the Ventura Keys, a neighborhood of 300 waterfront houses north of the Ventura Harbor, court authorities said Monday.

“The judges know the people who live there,” said Presiding Superior Court Judge Steven Z. Perren. “The court at all times has to avoid the appearance of partiality.”

A hearing was scheduled Thursday to determine whether the city of Ventura or Ventura Keys homeowners should pay for dredging the silt clogging their back-yard waterways. The case will be reassigned to another judge from outside the county, Perren said.

Keys residents contend that the city and the county should pay for the cleanup because runoff from the Arundell Barranca and 28 city drains is responsible for polluting the Keys.

City officials, however, argue that Keys homeowners gain the most from the dredging and should pay three-quarters of the cost.

At least eight other lawsuits have been filed in connection with the issue, Perren said. Although some of the lawsuits were filed more than a year ago, Judge Edwin M. Osborne--who was supposed to hear the case Thursday--only recently realized that he knew some of the Keys residents, Perren said.

A check on the names of the plaintiffs revealed that all 15 Superior Court judges had a relative, friend or professional acquaintance living in the Ventura Keys, Perren said. “It’s not unusual in a large litigation case in a small community,” he said.

Attorneys for both sides said they were bewildered when told of the change Monday.

“It took them a year to figure that out?” said Terry Bird, an attorney representing the residents. “Well, we’re not so far into it that it’s irreparable.”

Ventura City Atty. Peter D. Bulens estimated that the case would be postponed for several months.