Laguna Arts Festival Battle Headed to Court Once More

The bitter feud between exhibitors and board members of Laguna Beach’s famed Festival of Arts became a legal battle this week when a group seeking to oust the board asked a judge to intervene.

Painter Robin Hall filed a request Wednesday in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana asking that petitions to recall the board be validated by a judge.

“I believe we have collected enough signatures,” Hall said Thursday.

For two months, exhibitors have been circulating recall petitions, but festival officials have refused to validate them, saying first that the petitions did not have enough authentic signatures, then that additional names could not be appended to the original documents.

Festival bylaws require signatures from 10% of voting members who live in Orange County to initiate an election of trustees.

The original petitions are in a safe at the festival’s Laguna Beach office, another point of contention for the disgruntled exhibitors.

“They say [the signatures] are invalid, but we have nothing to compare them to because they won’t release the membership list,” Hall said. “They tell us certain names are disqualified, but we can’t prove it.”

Festival President Sherri M. Butterfield could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Hall’s petition to the court states that the festival board’s rejection of some names and refusal to call an election are without justification and in bad faith.

Donna Bader, a lawyer representing Hall, said the court could appoint an independent auditor who would inspect the membership list and compare it with the petitions to determine whether there are enough signatures to call an election. A hearing is scheduled May 24.

The organization’s lease on its 5.6-acre site expires in September 2001.