Talks Begin Over Political-Sign Suit : Court: Plaintiffs say a Northridge man removed placards to help Hal Bernson win 1991 City Council race.

Negotiations began Wednesday to settle a voting rights lawsuit brought by two candidates who accused a Northridge man of removing hundreds of their political signs to help City Councilman Hal Bernson’s 1991 reelection bid.

The lawsuit for $297,000 in damages was filed against tire store owner Alan D. Fox by Walter Prince and Alan Hecht, who finished third and fourth, respectively, in the bitter but unsuccessful campaign to unseat Bernson in 1991.

The pair’s lawsuit accuses Fox of violating their First Amendment rights by removing the signs and damaging their viability as candidates.

Settlement talks, under the auspices of Superior Court Judge Ernest Hiroshige, are to resume Monday.

Fox was implicated in the incident by a retired CSUN professor and his wife, who surprised two men tearing down campaign signs at a Northridge supermarket on March 29, 1991.

The truck the two were driving was traced to Fox, and Fox himself was subsequently identified by Mark Lit, the retired professor, said plaintiff’s attorney Wayne Canterbury.

Fox has refused to comment on the case and pleaded the Fifth Amendment when deposed in the matter.

Prince and Hecht said in an interview Wednesday that they hope that their lawsuit will serve as a deterrent to political vandalism.

COGS, the state’s biggest outdoor political sign firm and the third plaintiff in the case, joined the lawsuit to make the same point. COGS was hired in 1991 by Prince, Hecht and a third candidate, Los Angeles school board member Julie Korenstein, to post their political signs.

“The principle involved was very important to COGS,” said Greg Hummel, a former vice president with the firm. “The firm wanted a flag to wave that this couldn’t be done,” he said Wednesday. Hummel is also a witness in the case.

Meanwhile, despite Hiroshige’s efforts Wednesday to bring about a settlement, no final deal was reached.

In depositions in the case, the plaintiffs proposed that Bernson and Fox had an unusually close relationship that explains why Fox would remove the signs.

According to a sworn deposition, Fox and Bernson belonged to the same havurah at the Temple Ramat Zion in Northridge. A havurah is a group of worshipers who form an extended family. Ramat Zion has 25 havurahs.

Hecht, who is Jewish, testified in his deposition that “I know there is an extremely close relationship between Hal Bernson and Alan Fox, both being in the same havurah. And having been there, I believe, for many years (it) would create an extremely close, almost brotherlike relationship.”

Although Temple Ramat Zion officers Wednesday said Fox and Bernson are not now in a havurah together, Greig Smith, Bernson’s chief deputy, said it was his understanding that the two once were.

“I think they were years ago, but I don’t think they are now,” he said.

Hecht, in his deposition, also speculated that Bernson’s efforts on behalf of a Fox business deal might explain Fox’s motivation.

In 1988, over the objections of the city attorney’s office and city planning officials, Bernson spearheaded zoning approvals that enabled Fox to build an auto repair facility, Fox’s Tire and Auto Center, at 19321 Roscoe Blvd., Northridge.

“It’s a fact that Councilman Bernson went well out of his way to help Alan get a zone change,” Hecht testified in his deposition. “I would feel that if Alan Fox were any kind of person, he owes Hal something for that.”

Bernson did not return a phone call Wednesday about the lawsuit. But his chief deputy denied that Bernson knew about or encouraged any removal of opponents’ signs.

“I know about the lawsuit and it is unfortunate,” said Smith, who was the day-to-day manager of Bernson’s 1991 campaign. “I know Alan and he’s a nice guy.

During the 1991 campaign, Smith said he “strongly discouraged” political vandalism by Bernson campaign workers. Bernson narrowly won the 1991 race after a runoff election against Korenstein.