The Mission Viejo city council might be down to only two members soon as an Orange County Superior Court Judge ruled that three of the current members must vacate their seats.
"I'm here to serve my community. I love my community. And I want to continue to serve my community, but two months before an election you guys bring this all up to try to get your candidates in there to win these districts."
In fact, Michael Schlesinger, the resident who initially filed the lawsuit, had told council members at a January meeting that he intended to file a legal complaint over the post-election extension of council members' terms.The recent ruling from Schwarm found that the three council members should've been up for election in 2020 instead of interpreting, as city officials did from a separate legal agreement over voting rights, that their time in office should be extended until 2022.
During the meeting, City Attorney Bill Curley said the judge's recent decision was a"procedural matter" not a moral issue, and he dismissed the lawsuit as political posturing.Accusations Of Attempted Liberal Takeover City officials and some of their supporters also accused critics of trying to orchestrate a liberal takeover of the historically conservative city of some 95,000. Cathy Palmer, one of the residents who supported the lawsuit, dismissed that notion.
"I do happen to be liberal and I'm proud of it, but if you were a very liberal council and you were sitting up there after your terms had expired, I would be just as angry," she said, during the public comment portion of the meeting."You have taken away the right of the people to elect their own representatives."Opinions among community members who attended the meeting varied.
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