Downtown Ventura Partners Declare Victory With Court Order

A judge on Monday ordered a citizens initiative aimed at ripping out parking meters in downtown Ventura be removed from the November ballot.

Superior Court Judge Mark Borrell ruled that opponents of the meters should have used the referendum process, not a ballot initiative, and the power to install or remove parking meters is exclusively controlled by the City Council.

"No purpose would be served by putting it on the ballot," Borrell wrote in a tentative ruling he issued Saturday and finalized Monday after hearing oral arguments.

The ruling was a blow to the initiative's authors, who have opposed the parking meters since their installation last year. They undertook a herculean effort in little over two months to collect more than 10,000 signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot.

Afterward, some proponents of the measure who were in the courtroom said they were disappointed and now plan to shift their focus to make sure City Council members Christy Weir and Carl Morehouse, who joined the 5-2 majority in voting for the meters, are not re-elected Nov. 8.

"Today, we lost. But I still think we can win the war in November," said Randall Richman, one of the measure's three authors. Another author, Gary Parker, a downtown shop owner, said those opposed to the meters would not be silenced. "I plan to go door-to-door if I have to," he said.

Last month, the City Council agreed to a two-part action: to place the anti-meter measure on the ballot, while also directing City Attorney Ariel Calonne to file a legal challenge after Calonne raised concerns about its constitutionality.

If passed by voters, the measure would have required the removal of dozens of electronic pay stations that cost more than $1 million to implement and enforce. It also would have required a two-thirds voter approval for future parking fees. An exception would have been granted for all paid parking in place in Ventura before 2006.

Judge Borrell on Saturday issued a tentative, two-page ruling on the matter. In it, he stated there is a distinct difference between an initiative and a referendum. A referendum was the appropriate way to attempt to reject the installation of the meters. A referendum, which asks voters to approve or reject a law, had to be filed within 30 days of the meters ordinance going into effect, a deadline the critics missed.

Ronald Beaman, an attorney for Carla Bonney, the measure's primary author and a candidate running for the City Council, argued that the meters were a "ruse" that were installed to collect money and did nothing to regulate traffic. He said voters should have the right to "co-legislate" with the City Council, and while a referendum might have been the court's preferred course of action, nothing explicitly prevents an initiative from going to voters.

After Beaman finished his oral argument, the judge asked Assistant City Attorney Andy Viets if had anything to add. Viets didn't, and within seconds the judge announced his tentative ruling was final. His ruling took effect immediately.

Afterward, Bonney and Beaman declined to comment. Bonney had several supporters in the courtroom, including a family who traveled from Arizona.

One of them, Holly Garcia of Scottsdale, called the ruling "disgraceful" and felt the judge had made his mind up before the hearing.

The authors could appeal, but likely would have do so no later than Tuesday. County elections officials have set a Friday deadline for final ballot language.

Viets applauded Borrell and made a point of saying the city was not trying to silence voters, but instead uphold the law.

"This is not some type of anti-democracy effort," he said in an interview.

Money from the pay stations along Main Street and side streets currently pay for enhanced police security and a public Wi-Fi network in downtown Ventura.

"The judge was absolutely definitive," said David Armstrong, board chairman of the Downtown Ventura Partners, a downtown business improvement district. "I hope that we can now refocus on helping small businesses protect and create jobs and rebuild Ventura's public safety."