After several south Orange County cities were sent letters last year claiming they violated the California Voting Rights Act, city officials from separate municipalities were working together to delay paying the attorney that forced a switch to district elections.
The attorney who brought forth the claims sued the cities of Rancho Santa Margarita and Laguna Niguel earlier this year for failing to reimburse her fees after alleging those cities violating the law by disenfranchising voters through at-large voting.
Both of those cities have since transitioned to district elections – but have still yet to pay the attorney, Michelle Jackson, who put them on notice.
Since then, Rancho Santa Margarita has hired Neilsen Mersksamer – a Sacramento-based law firm – to fight the lawsuit against the city made back in August, based on pleadings that were made on Oct. 16.
In an Oct. 24 phone interview, Jackson said the cost to taxpayers will “at least” reach $500,000 when considering the argument against paying up hasn’t changed: not revealing the name of the plaintiff on the voting rights act legal threats.
“To start fighting the battle all over, it seems a little disingenuous and most likely going to be very expensive,” she said.
The bill for paying lawyer fees in cities that switch to district elections without a court battle is capped at $30,000.
But those costs could dramatically rise in the fight against reimbursing the lawyer that sued Rancho Santa Margarita despite already switching to district elections.
[Read: Two South OC Cities Allegedly Refused to Pay Up Over Voting Rights Lawsuit]
Jackson claims there is legal precedent to back up her decision to not reveal any names.
Individual demand letters were sent by Jackson last summer accusing Laguna Hills and San Clemente of lacking fair representation for elected officials, in which city managers from each city came together to discuss how to move forward.
All cities except Laguna Hills transitioned to district elections, in which voters choose a candidate for the district they reside in.
In contrast, under at-large elections, voters can pick as many candidates as there are seats up for grabs. For example, if there’s three city council seats up for elections, voters can choose three candidates.
After reviewing emails obtained by the California Public Records Act, Voice of OC found that city officials were discussing how to delay reimbursement.
To review the emails, click here.
Rancho Santa Margarita City Manager Jennifer Cervantez began organizing calls starting in July to the city managers of San Clemente, Laguna Niguel and Laguna Hills – all of whom received notices on violating the state voting law.
Later October, the Dana Point-based attorney Jackson sent a notice for reimbursement of fees to Rancho Santa Margarita City Clerk Amy Diaz, nearly two months after the city had acknowledged the initial notice.
Back-and-forth letters between Jackson and Rancho Santa Margarita’s city attorney show that the city was unwilling to reimburse attorney fees due to not providing the name of the client she is representing.
Gregory Simonian, the Rancho Santa Margarita city attorney who responded to Jackson’s initial demand letters, is also the city attorney for Laguna Hills. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Around the same time last November, Cervantez had sent a follow-up email to Laguna Niguel City Manager Tammy Letourneau and San Clemente City Manager Andy Hall about Simonian’s responses to Jackson on delaying her reimbursement.
“FYI. Just so you are aware of the next step in the process,” reads a Nov. 3, 2023 email by Cervantez.
The email sent to Laguna Niguel contained the initial invoice and second letter sent by Jackson, along with the second reply made by Rancho Santa Margarita’s city attorney.
Initial emails in July by Cervantez, under the subject line “Districting,” show that she reached out to several city managers to have meetings over the phone and via Zoom.
When asked about the emails by a Voice of OC reporter, Rancho Santa Margarita’s Cervantez said in a brief phone interview that she was unable to comment on questions relating to emails sent to other south Orange County city managers or attorney fees.
Letourneau – the city manager from Laguna Niguel – said in an email the “city is unable to comment due to pending litigation.”
Laguna Hills City Manager Jarad Hildenbrand did not respond to requests for comment.
Were City Officials Plotting to Delay Paying Attorney Fees?
In an Oct. 3 email, San Clemente City Manager Hall said the city “attempted to follow the provisions of state law as we understood them including payment of fees.”
Hall said that the calls with other city managers – Cervantez, Letourneau and Hildenbrand – made last year were to figure out how to gauge moving forward with district elections.
He added “While helpful, I think each community took a different approach that they thought would be in the best interests of their residents.”
On the city’s website, the newly drawn district map for San Clemente can be accessed along with a timeline explaining why city officials moved forward with district elections.
In 2018, San Clemente residents overwhelmingly rejected a vote for district elections, with roughly 70% of residents against it.
However, the website acknowledges that the vote does not protect the city from legal action under the California Voting Rights Act. It also highlights the financial implications if the city were to challenge the switch to district elections.
“Litigating the case is estimated to cost several millions dollars,” reads a statement on the city’s website. It later continues “Some cities have decided to fight the demand and to date, no cities have successfully won in court.”
Jackson, the attorney who sent the letters and is now suing Rancho Santa Margarita and Laguna Niguel, said in a phone interview that “it’s unprecedented” for municipalities to unite in order to delay attorney fees.
The local chapter of the ACLU also stepped in earlier this year to address delaying Jackson’s fees.
Julia Gomez, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU in SoCal, sent a letter to Rancho Santa Margarita’s city clerk in May calling for reimbursement of fees, along with highlighting how Laguna Niguel took a similar approach to undermine the CVRA.
Laguna Hills is the only city that did not transition to district elections following the claims made by Jackson on disenfranchising minority voters.
Hugo Rios is a Voice of OC reporting fellow. Contact him at hugo.toni.rios@gmail.com or on Twitter @hugoriosss.
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