Santa Paula Official Forced to Run as Write-In

Longtime Santa Paula City Councilwoman Laura Flores Espinosa will have to run her November reelection bid without her name appearing on the ballot, a judge ruled Thursday.

Espinosa, seeking her third four-year term, said she has no choice but to ask voters to write in her name on the ballot.

“Obviously, I’m really disappointed with the court’s ruling,” Espinosa said outside court. “The only option is to be a write-in candidate, and we’ll pursue that. My main purpose is to serve the city of Santa Paula.”

The decision by Ventura County Superior Court Judge Melinda Johnson stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Espinosa last week, after County Clerk Richard Dean rejected candidacy documents she submitted Aug. 14.

While Aug. 14 was the deadline for nonincumbent challengers to file election papers, sitting council members’ papers were due Aug. 9, Dean said.

Espinosa, a member of the council the past eight years, said the slip-up was simply a misunderstanding.

Espinosa said she was under the impression that because Councilman Donald Johnson had announced he would not seek another term, the filing deadline had been extended five days for everyone.

“At no time did they tell me an incumbent has to file by a certain deadline,” Espinosa said Thursday before the hearing.

But Dean, who inspected all documents for the county’s consolidated election, said instructions given to Santa Paula candidates made clear the different filing dates.

He said no other candidates in the county had the same problem, either this year or any year he can remember.

“It just doesn’t happen,” Dean said. “People who are incumbents don’t miss their deadlines--they know them.”

In court Thursday, Espinosa’s attorney, Richard Francis, argued the councilwoman was eligible for the extended filing date because she was really attempting to run as a challenger to Johnson’s seat, not as an incumbent for her own seat.

But Leroy Smith of the county counsel’s office said the purpose of the elections law governing filing deadlines is to allow prospective candidates an opportunity to learn if an incumbent, who may be difficult to unseat, will be running before deciding whether to join the race.

The interpretation offered by Francis would render that law meaningless, Smith said, because it would allow all incumbents to wait until the last minute, then claim they are actually filing for each others’ seats on the council.

The judge agreed.

“The intent of the law is clear,” Johnson said. “Mrs. Espinosa did not file in a timely manner.”

The fumble is particularly ironic because Espinosa--one of two Latinos on the council in a city where Latinos represent two-thirds of the population--is a well-known advocate for ethnic diversity in Santa Paula government.

She helped fight for a measure on the November ballot that asks voters whether the council’s five members should be elected from separate districts instead of citywide.

A U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit faulted the city’s current at-large voting system for keeping a representative number of Latinos off of the panel.

Espinosa was the only Latino council member at the time the suit was filed. Since then, she has been joined by Mayor Ray Luna.

Two other Latinos are seeking a seat on the council in the Nov. 5 election: former Mayor Al Escoto and high school teacher Gabino Aguirre.

Other candidates for the three council seats are incumbent Rick Cook, seeking a second term; Rita Graham, a land-use planner; Mary Ann Krause, an urban planner; and real estate agent John Wisda.

The judge on Thursday also rejected Espinosa’s argument that Dean, the county clerk, did not have the authority to keep her name off of the ballot.

Francis said Dean overstepped his bounds when he refused to accept Espinosa’s late filing papers, which were certified by City Clerk Steven Salas.

“I have this vision of Mr. Dean riding around the state like the Lone Ranger, telling people how to follow the law,” Francis told the court. “It’s not his job.”

But Johnson said a resolution passed by the City Council, which asks Dean to verify signatures for the city, also gives him the power to determine whether all election documents are valid, including whether they are timely.

Espinosa said waiting until the last minute is “typical Laura.”

“Everyone else comes first, and Laura comes last,” Espinosa said. “I’ve learned my lesson.”