Motion Filed Over Judge in Mall Case
Attorneys for the city of Oxnard have filed a motion to disqualify a retired judge who was assigned to hear a series of lawsuits over the expansion of Ventura’s Buenaventura Mall.
Judge Kenneth G. Ziebarth Jr. of San Bernardino County is the fifth jurist to have been assigned the case.
In a three-page motion to dismiss, Oxnard special counsel R. Bruce Tepper Jr. says Ziebarth is prejudiced against Oxnard. “I believe that [Oxnard] may not have a fair and impartial trial or hearing before such a judge in this action,” Tepper said in the motion filed in Ventura County Superior Court on Thursday.
Ventura city officials Friday received a copy and accused Oxnard attorneys of trying to hold up the judicial process.
“This latest action has crossed all professional boundaries,” said Steve Chase, assistant to the city manager. “It is unfortunate that Oxnard city leadership has chosen this destructive path.”
Oxnard filed suit against the city of Ventura earlier this year after the City Council approved plans for a $50-million renovation of the Buenaventura Mall.
The project would strip Oxnard of its two department stores, Sears and Robinsons-May, which plan to leave The Esplanade for the improved Ventura mall. Oxnard officials say the move would hurt their city economically and create blight in the area.
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