SOAR Leader Sues Newspaper, Elected Officials

Tired of feeling pushed around while trying to pass a growth-control initiative, Richard Francis has decided to take on two of this tiny farm town’s most powerful institutions: the mayor and the owner of the local newspaper.

They happen to be one and the same.

Francis, a Ventura attorney and leader of the Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources movement, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Mayor Don Johnson, who is also owner of the twice-weekly Santa Paula Times.

The suit alleges that by holding the contracts to publish Santa Paula’s legal notices and regular advertising, Johnson is blatantly violating conflict-of-interest laws prohibiting politicians from profiting off city business.

It seeks to prevent Santa Paula from paying Johnson any money for the alleged contracts in question--which are worth about $30,000, according to the suit--and also asks the court to force Johnson to “disgorge” money he has received plus interest.

Francis said he learned of the alleged conflict after Johnson refused to publish a notice regarding SOAR’s Santa Paula growth-control initiative, which Johnson opposes.

He filed the suit, which also names Councilman James Garfield and the city itself, on behalf of Santa Paula resident John Stockdill.

“Oh well,” Francis said when asked about the wisdom of suing a local newspaper owner. “It doesn’t make him immune, and he seems to think he is.”

But Johnson denied any impropriety Tuesday, saying he had no written contract with the city. He added that he has never voted to give his newspaper any work and that advertising decisions are made by city staff.

After Francis first aired his concerns at a Santa Paula City Council meeting last month, city officials have been looking into the situation to see if any laws have been violated. Johnson said he believes he has done nothing wrong.

“There was an allegation that I had a contract and a conflict,” Johnson said. “I don’t know about either of those things.

“The city is free to take their legal notices elsewhere if they wish,” he added.

The suit also targets Garfield, an owner and broker of Cal West Real Estate in Santa Paula, for allegedly violating conflict-of-interest laws and Fair Political Practices Commission regulations by continuing to vote on land-use decisions. It seeks to have a judge declare that Garfield has a conflict regarding all past, present and future development-related votes that may affect his income.

Particularly egregious, Francis said, was Garfield’s participation in the recent split vote to expand the city’s blueprint for growth by 9,300 acres. Days later, Cal West Real Estate took out an ad in the Santa Paula Times promoting a piece of property located in the acreage, which still has to clear other government hurdles before it can be developed.

“The ad said, ‘Buy here, now in the path of potential development,’ ” Francis said. “I’m no rocket scientist, but it looks wrong to me.”

Garfield declined to comment Tuesday, saying he had not seen the suit. In a similar case, the FPPC recently advised Moorpark Councilwoman Debbie Teasley, a real estate broker, to abstain from future land use decisions on similar grounds.

Francis said the lawsuit had nothing to do with the SOAR initiatives, one of which seeks to prevent Santa Paula from expanding its borders without a vote of the people. The group is also looking to pass similar measures in Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Camarillo and Oxnard as well as the county.

But one thing is clear: Johnson is no friend of SOAR.

The top story in the July 3 edition of the Santa Paula Times described the launch of the Coalition for Community Planning, an anti-SOAR group.

The first person quoted? Santa Paula Mayor Don Johnson, who asked the public to “seek the truth and be informed” about the initiatives.

The article did not mention that Johnson owned the newspaper.