BURBANK : Gadfly’s Restitution Appeal Is Denied

A noted Burbank gadfly who contended he was wrongly evicted from property later bought by the city lost an appeal for restitution early Tuesday morning.

Jules Kimmett’s request for relocation benefits was rejected by the city’s Relocation Appeals Board just after midnight Tuesday morning, after a 3 1/2-hour meeting.

The appeals board ruled against Kimmett in a 4-1 vote, saying that although he had been evicted from the property, which was eventually purchased by the city, the negotiations for that purchase had not begun until a month after he left the Olive Avenue apartment in August, 1990. City officials said the building’s owner, Tyler Eschrich, had originally evicted his tenants not because he planned to sell the site to the city, but because he intended to renovate the property.

The city is now building senior citizens housing on the site, where Kimmett had lived for 24 years.

Kimmett is a well-known figure in Burbank government, always appearing at City Council meetings with a yellow shirt that reads, “We have the best council money can buy.” At the end of the pledge of allegiance, Kimmett usually shouts “with liberty and justice for all.”

Redevelopment law requires municipalities to provide relocation assistance to tenants who live in a building when negotiations to buy the property have begun. Ted McConkey, a friend of Kimmett’s who presented the case for him in Monday’s hearing, argued that those negotiations between the city and had begun in either May or April of 1990.

Another issue behind Kimmett’s case is that if the city were to lose the claim, that the tenants in another seven apartments evicted from the building might also be entitled to money.

“Maybe in some way the city can ensure that next time, not so many people will fall through the cracks,” Matthews said at the conclusion of the hearing. The claim will now go to the City Council for consideration.

If Kimmett eventually wins, a separate hearing would have to be held to determine how much is owed to him.

“I’m not going to get mad,” Kimmett said after stepping into the hallway after the hearing. “I’m going to get even.”