La Conchita Landslide

Re “Ranch Free of Blame in Landslide, Judge Rules,” Jan. 16.

And justice for all!

Much of the town of La Conchita was paid off in an out-of-court settlement that left the hill crumbling and houses and debris left unmoved since the March 4, 1995, landslide. A larger portion of residents took the La Conchita Ranch Co. back to court to resolve the ongoing danger looming over us.

In spite of the expert testimony that the ranch, with broken water meters, poured unknown amounts of water and watered excessively (to the point of root rot) the 600 acres of avocado and citrus trees on the 600-foot bluffs above the 80-year-old town, the honorable Judge Henry J. Walsh decided that the water came from somewhere else.

The Ventura court decided that the trees used up the billions of acre-feet of water and that not one drop contributed to the slide. What? With the evidence of several springs formed in the La Conchita area after the seven-year drought that preceded the ’95 winter rains, and the “minor” fissures and failures that occurred months before the rains came, and preceded the big slide of ‘95?

Maybe it’s justice for the rich and powerful, Ventura County style. This whole case is smelling like a political novel. Those who could afford to be in the first lawsuit were rightfully compensated; those who could not, were not.

I guess in this case it depends on what the definition of a what a slide “is” is. Are the houses rotting at the top of my street really there? Is the water running down our streets really water?

“Justice for all” has no meaning to me anymore. It reminds me once again to put my faith in God and not in man or his laws. This court has trouble in its own house and shall inherit the wind.

DON M. LEE, La Conchita