A court hearing to decide the fate of the controversial Growth
Control Initiative will happen Thursday at the San Benito County
Courthouse.
But that’s assuming two things: A visiting judge from Santa Cruz
will have sufficiently briefed himself on an imposing stack of
lawsuit documents; and he won’t appease one of the lawyers’ request
for a postponed and extended hearing.
A court hearing to decide the fate of the controversial Growth Control Initiative will happen Thursday at the San Benito County Courthouse.
But that’s assuming two things: A visiting judge from Santa Cruz will have sufficiently briefed himself on an imposing stack of lawsuit documents; and he won’t appease one of the lawyers’ request for a postponed and extended hearing.
Santa Cruz Superior Court Judge Robert Yontz is scheduled to hear the 2 p.m. proceeding, which includes two separate challenges to the Growth Control Initiative.
The first one, filed Oct. 1, comes from local resident Rebecca McGovern. Backed by the environmental law firm Earthjustice, she claims the organizers of a signature referendum to place the initiative on the March ballot omitted state-mandated language.
“If he’s a good judge, I think he’ll follow our course,” McGovern said Tuesday.
The second opposition, from an anonymous group called Los Valientes, claims the initiative should be nullified because the Board of Supervisors allegedly helped draft the document through an illegal serial meeting.
Los Valientes lawyer Michael Pekin has requested the hearing be deferred and extended an additional day so he can present evidence to prove the state open meetings law violation. The other three parties involved have expressed an urgency to have the case heard. It is expected Yontz will rule on the Los Valientes issues at the hearing’s outset.
“Well, the positions of the parties are so dispersed and come from such different angles, I expect he’ll give the parties more time to develop positions,” Pekin said.
McGovern on Tuesday, following standard procedure, filed an opposition to Los Valientes’ motion to officially join the case. Earthjustice lawyers say the Brown Act allegations should be heard as a separate case.
“The law is pretty clear that (Pekin) is not an appropriate party,” said Earthjustice lawyer Trent Orr.
An anti-initiative citizens group, the same organization that organized the referendum, is challenging McGovern’s claim. And San Benito County is defending the Los Valientes allegations; the county hired Sacramento-based lawyer William Owen, who specializes in governmental law, to handle the county’s defense.
As of press time, the specific courtroom had not been determined, according to Alex Calvo, court executive officer. Finding a room has been difficult this week because two jury trials are ongoing, he said.
