
MISSION VIEJO – Today, the Hon. Walter Schwarm of the Orange County Superior Court issued a tentative ruling tentatively granting a writ of quo warranto removing three city council members from office. A hearing on the matter will be held on Tuesday, August 30, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. If the Court adopts the tentative ruling, it will serve to remove Ed Sachs, Greg Raths, and Wendy Bucknum from the Mission Viejo City Council.
This case stems from the City’s decision in 2018 to hold elections for two-year terms for the City Council in order to settle a case brought against the City for violating the California Voting Rights Act (“CVRA”). However, in 2020, the City had not implemented the settlement and the City Council unilaterally decided that the incumbent members would holdover without an election. Michael Schlesinger, a resident of Mission Viejo, brought this action to remove the offending councilmembers to remove them from office, a procedure which required approval from the California Attorney General. The Attorney General granted approval to bring this action on May 26, 2022, and the case was filed in the name of the People in the Orange County Superior Court later that day.
This case is related to Judge Schwarm’s ruling on June 28, 2022, requiring that the City hold elections for all five city council seats in 2020. That case arose because, in 2020, the City decided to hold elections for the seats placed up for election that year for two year terms as well, purportedly so that the City could continue working to implement the terms of the settlement that it agreed to in the 2018 CVRA case. But having still been unable to implement the settlement in time for the 2022 elections, the City Council City Council again unilaterally decided to extend the terms of office of the other two city council members –those held by Trish Kelley and Brian Goodell – by allowing them to holdover without an election. The Court enjoined the City Council from doing so and ordered that an election take place to fill those seats this November.
The result is a highly unusual removal from office pursuant to a Quo Warranto action. It is believed to be the first time in Orange County history when a Court has removed three incumbents from office in one action.
Michael Schlesinger, the Mission Viejo resident who brought the case, stated: “It has been a long fight for me and my fellow Mission Viejo citizens to obtain voting rights in this City. Judge Schwarm’s tentative decision finding Ms. Bucknum, and Mssrs. Raths and Sachs guilty of usurping, intruding into and unlawfully holding office is vindication for the people of the City. But it is not enough! Because these individuals violated the voters’ trust, they should have the decency to remove themselves from the 2022 ballot for City Council and never run for City Council again. Brian Goodell and Trish Kelley should also resign and withdraw from the election because they too have violated the voters’ trust. All five city councilmembers voted unanimously to extend their terms. It took two lawsuits to force them all to stand for election, all on the backs of the taxpayers.”
The tentative ruling is available online at http://www.occourts.org/rulings/wschwarmrulings.htm (entry #5).