ELECTIONS / 24th CONGRESSIONAL SEAT : Rep. Beilenson Faces Libel Suit by Republican

A political challenger on Thursday filed a libel lawsuit against Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson, firing the first salvo in what promises to be a bitter and cantankerous election campaign.

Republican Richard Sybert filed the suit in Ventura County Superior Court accusing Beilenson, a Woodland Hills Democrat, of making libelous statements in two campaign mailers during the 1994 elections.

Sybert narrowly lost to Beilenson in last year’s race for the 24th District seat, and is challenging him again. The district stretches from Malibu to Thousand Oaks and Oak Park.

The mailers attacked Sybert for collecting $140,000 in private legal fees while holding a $98,000-a-year, governor-appointed job between 1991 and 1993.

“Rich Sybert Ripped Off California Taxpayers,” the first flyer proclaimed.

The second flyer stated: “Rich Sybert’s record in Office Tainted by Conflict of Interest,” and “Community Leader Outraged by Sybert’s Lack of Ethics.”

Gov. Pete Wilson appointed Sybert as director of the state Office of Planning and Research and chairman of the Governor’s Council on Growth Management in 1990, and Sybert began collecting his salary in January, 1991.

Later in 1991, the California Fair Political Practices Commission told Sybert that he could continue to practice law privately while on Wilson’s staff. The agency looked into the matter at Sybert’s request.

“Both mailers clearly charge that [Sybert] did not properly discharge his duties as an official of the state of California or work full-time in that capacity,” the lawsuit complains. “Both mailers also clearly accuse [Sybert] of criminal conduct and personal dishonesty.”

Craig Miller, Beilenson’s campaign manager, who was also named in the suit, said Thursday that he and the congressman stand by the accuracy of the mailers. Miller said lawyers reviewed the flyers before they were mailed.

Miller called the lawsuit groundless and said Sybert is willing to “waste court time and taxpayers’ money in hopes of achieving some publicity for himself.”

Neither Beilenson nor Sybert could be reached for comment.

Sybert’s attorney, Charles H. Bell Jr. of Sacramento, declined to comment on the suit, which asks for unspecified monetary damages. The suit also asks that a judge prevent Beilenson from mailing similar flyers during the upcoming campaign.

“No judge has ever granted slander or libel because of campaign statements,” said John Davies, a Santa Barbara political consultant. But Davies said the lawsuit accomplishes more than simply getting Sybert publicity.

For one thing, Davies said, it helps scare away any potential challengers in the Republican primary, which had five contestants in 1994.

Sybert is the only Republican to announce his candidacy so far, with two months left to file. Mark Boos Benhard, who finished fourth in the 1994 primary, said he will not challenge Sybert. “Rich Sybert deserves to run unopposed,” Benhard said.

“The suit also tells Beilenson that they are going to play hardball,” Davies said. “It will be a tougher, meaner race.”