Judge: Moreno Belongs on Placentia Ballot

A Superior Court judge Tuesday ordered the city of Placentia to let a councilwoman run for reelection even though she failed to meet the Friday deadline for incumbent candidates.

Councilwoman Maria Moreno was told by a deputy city clerk only an hour before the Friday deadline that she had until today to file. Even though the mistake was quickly caught and a police officer sent to her home to tell her that she needed to file, Moreno said she did not have her paperwork completed.

Judge William F. McDonald’s ruling that Moreno’s name must be placed on the ballot took no more than five minutes, with Moreno, her lawyer Mark Rosen and Placentia City Atty. Carol Tanenbaum in the courtroom.

A similar situation occurred in 1996 when Orange City Councilman Michael Spurgeon missed the application deadline after he was similarly misinformed by the city clerk’s office. A judge ordered Spurgeon’s name onto the ballot and he won.

Moreno expressed relief and vowed to take steps to ensure that filing deadlines are made clearer in the future. Although Placentia’s filing deadline had been extended because an incumbent councilman opted not the run, that extension applied only to challengers, not incumbents.

“I’m elated,” she said minutes after the ruling. “I’m the second council member in Orange County to whom this happened in four years. The rules need to be made clearer.”

Rosen, a councilman for the city of Garden Grove, said the ruling was fair.

“Council members are told these people [city clerks] are the final word on election law,” he said. “These are the people you rely on.”

An information packet given to those interested in Placentia’s council race included an explanation of the deadlines and stated clearly that the extension given when an incumbent does not file applies to non-incumbents only. Moreno said that information was buried among other material, and indicated that a cover letter on the packet gave misleading information on the extension.

Tanenbaum, meanwhile, said the city appeared in court only to tell the judge exactly what took place. The city did not take a side in the issue, she add.

“A judge had to make this decision,” Tanenbaum said.