Canceling Election Deemed Illegal

A judge Friday ordered the city of Vernon to hold its first election in a quarter-century, ruling that the tiny industrial town acted illegally when it stripped three men’s voter registration and canceled the April election.

The ruling marks a milestone of sorts for the city south of downtown Los Angeles, which has 93 residents and has long been criticized for its closed political system. Most City Council members have served for three decades or more and rarely face opposition.

But this year, three men moved into a converted commercial space and filed papers to run for City Council. Within days, city utility trucks turned off the newcomers’ power, inspectors slapped red tags on the property and lights were flashed through windows. The Times reported last month that they were evicted, and the city canceled their voter registration and the election.

Attorneys for Vernon argued that the men were not residents and could not run for office.

But Superior Court Judge David Yaffee was unmoved, ruling that just because the city evicted them, it didn’t mean they were disqualified from running for office.

“Maybe they’re living on the streets, in their cars,” Yaffee said.

The judge didn’t know it, but he was more than half right. Don A. Huff, 41, David Johnson, 24, and Alejandro Lopez, 20, and five roommates have been living for a week in tents and cars outside the converted commercial building.

Johnson expressed vindication -- but also surprise -- at the outcome.

“I thought they were actually going to get away with what they were doing,” he said. “This whole thing has been a big old rollercoaster: one day good, one day bad.”

Vernon officials declined to comment.

But in court, Vernon attorneys argued that the three candidates could not run for office because the city concluded that the location where they were staying was not zoned for residential housing. They also noted that another judge had previously issued a preliminary ruling preventing the men from living on the property because it didn’t meet code.

“What we have is an issue here where the basis for their standing is their residency in the city of Vernon,” said attorney Paul Gough. “Yet ... they’re enjoined from using that residence in the city of Vernon.”

Yaffee disagreed, explaining that the men’s argument was based on their status as registered voters in that city -- not on where they lived.

“Whether it’s right or wrong ... the officials of the city were not entitled to revoke or cancel” their registration,” the judge said. “They have no power to do that.”

On Jan. 27, Vernon City Clerk Bruce Malkenhorst Jr. -- whose father, former City Administrator Bruce Malkenhorst Sr., is being investigated by the L.A. County D.A.’s office -- disqualified them from the ballot by voiding their voter registration.

In a letter, he accused them of illegally trespassing on a commercial property and of being part of a takeover plot orchestrated by Albert Robles, a felon who ran the city of South Gate as treasurer. They deny the charge.

In the past, Vernon has regularly canceled elections because no one challenged the incumbents. People who have announced their candidacy for City Council have been evicted from city-owned homes.