HUNTINGTON BEACH : Law Firm Is Hired to Defend City in Suit
The Santa Monica law firm of Strumwasser & Woocher was selected this week by the City Council to help defend the city against a lawsuit challenging its campaign reform ordinance.
In closed-session action, Mayor Linda Moulton Patterson and council members Grace Winchell and Ralph Bauer voted to hire the firm. Councilman Victor Leipzig cast the opposing vote, and Councilmen David Sullivan and Jim Silva abstained. Councilman Earle Robitaille was absent.
Deputy City Atty. Arthur Folger estimated the cost of hiring the outside firm at $40,000 to $70,000, depending on how the case proceeds through the court system.
The council was given four candidates.
The lawsuit, filed Aug. 2 in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, charges that the city’s campaign law restricts freedom of speech. The city attorney’s office filed a motion that the suit be dismissed. A judge denied that motion.
The lawsuit challenges the city’s $300 limit on the amount an individual can contribute to a committee that uses the money to make independent expenditures for or against city candidates.
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