23 Dec The Red Brennan Group Intervenes to Defend Voters’ Interest in Measure K Lawsuit
Office of County Counsel Refuses to Defend Measure Approved by Supermajority of Voters
On Friday afternoon, San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge David Cohn approved a motion by The Red Brennan Group to intervene in a lawsuit targeting Measure K, a local government reform effort passed by voters in the November election. Approved by a “supermajority” of over 66% of county voters the initiative set total compensation for an elected supervisor to $60,000 per year. This figure reflects the median household income of county residents. The measure also limits an elected supervisor to one, four year term.
Once the election results were certified, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, using taxpayer dollars, contracted with an outside law firm to sue the County’s own Clerk of the Board. Symbolically, this lawsuit is the Board’s way of suing their own citizens over Measure K. The initial motion requested a Temporary Restraining Order directed at the Clerk that would prohibit any effort to implement the law.
The Office of County Counsel is responsible to defend both the Clerk of the Board and to vigorously defend the law on behalf of San Bernardino County voters. However, as demonstrated both in court filings and in open court discussion, County Counsel refuses to undertake either responsibility. The result is that an initiative approved by over 66% of county voters would be ignored by the very same elected officials sworn to protect the voters’ interests.
The county’s actions are particularly perplexing when viewed from the perspective of shepherding tax-payer resources. The Board of Supervisors is using tax-payer funding to pay an outside law firm $400 to $600 per hour to block a measure approved by a majority of voters in the county. At the same time taxpayers fund the Office of County Counsel to the tune of $12.7 million per year. There are 107 employees in the County Counsel’s office all supervised by Michelle D. Blakemore who earned nearly $450,000 in total compensation last year. Yet County Counsel refuses to defend Measure K in court!
The Red Brennan Group and the Inland Oversight Committee stepped into the gap. Attorneys from each organization filed motions of intervention to defend both the measure’s proponent and voters’ interest in the matter.
Friday’s hearing started in Judge Cohn’s court and ended in front of Judge Donald Alvarez. Judge Cohn, in accordance with settled law, approved The Red Brennan Group’s motion to intervene. The group’s attorney followed this approval with an immediate request to “paper” Judge Cohn. This is a legal procedure where a party that “…believes that he or she cannot have a fair and impartial trial or hearing before the judge” is allowed to shift the case to a different judge.
After moving to the new venue, Judge Alvarez delayed further rulings on the case and scheduled a hearing for the 28th of January.
For more information contact:
Natalie Zuk
(909) 206-2826
info@redbrennan.org