No End in Sight to the Madness of the Resistance

As Reported in the Santa Barbara News-Press 6/20/2008

Sewer conversion hit with lawsuit : Contestants allege voting misconduct in annexation of beach communities

"The ongoing effort to convert four beach communities in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties from septic to sewer systems has taken another twist as a lawsuit has been filed challenging the results of a vote that seemed to pave the way for the conversion.

The individuals who filed the lawsuit -- Carpinteria residents William Taylor, John Stephenson, Timothy Finnigan, Marilyn Ulvaeus and Benjamin Weiss -- are seeking to decertify current election results. They are asking for a recount that would include two votes cast out after being challenged by the group Heal the Ocean, according to the lawsuit dated June 12.

They also want any illegally cast votes to be stricken from the tally, as they believe Heal the Ocean worked to "register persons in favor of the annexation that have never been domiciled in any of the beach communities," according to the lawsuit.

Proponents of the conversion say it will keep contaminants from septic systems from reaching the ocean. Opponents question the nearly $80,000-per-home expense and the environmental benefit of the conversion.

The annexation issue falls under the aegis of the Santa Barbara County Local Agency Formation Commission, which received the annexation application from the Carpinteria Valley Sanitary District in the spring of 2007, according to the lawsuit.

The matter eventually went to a vote via special election on April 22, but was conducted completely by mail-in ballot. After a hand count of the votes by Santa Barbara County election officials, which followed a computer count, the two sets of results were determined to be identical -- 73 in favor of annexation and 59 opposed."

Click on the following link to read the complete article: Sewer Conversion Lawsuit (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to view.)