WILDOMAR: Lawsuits called frivolous
Alleged taxpayer advocate Gerard Ste. Marie has filed multiple suits against county
By AARON CLAVERIE - Staff Writer | ∞
WILDOMAR ---- County officials are criticizing a self-styled taxpayer advocate for filing "frivolous" lawsuits that they say are doing exactly what he claims to fight: wasting taxpayer funds.
The focus of their ire, Gerard Ste. Marie of Wildomar, has filed multiple suits against the county in recent years and one of his suits stopped the county from selling land in Wildomar that had been tabbed for a regional park.
That sale to the San Jacinto Community College District could have netted the county, which has appealed the ruling to the state Supreme Court, about $5 million.
The county also has spent an as-of-yet untabulated amount in legal fees and research costs associated with defending itself from the suits, said Dave Stahovich, chief of staff for Supervisor Bob Buster.
Stahovich said Monday that he was trying to put together the numbers that show how much Ste. Marie's suits have cost taxpayers.
Ste. Marie's latest suit, filed in May, seeks to invalidate the upcoming incorporation of Wildomar on July 1 because, as he contends in the suit, the county's Local Agency Formation Commission did not follow the letter of state law when it determined Wildomar would be a fiscally viable city.
The agency, composed of elected officials and a public representative, approved putting the incorporation question on the February ballot in August 2007.
Ste. Marie, who called himself a taxpayer advocate in an election filing, also contends in the suit that what he calls an "annual revenue augmentation" from the county to the city of Wildomar is an illegal gift of public funds from one municipal agency to another.
Without that augmentation, the city of Wildomar is not fiscally viable, according to Ste. Marie, and since it's not viable the incorporation should never have gone before voters, Ste. Marie argues in the suit.
While many Wildomar leaders decry Ste. Marie's legal challenges, he does have a fan base of like-minded residents who contend the area isn't ready to support cityhood.
The augmentation Ste. Marie refers to in the suit has the county giving Wildomar about $300,000 per year for 10 years. The $300,000 figure was developed by estimating the amount of money the county will be saving by not paying for services provided by the city of Wildomar.
There's a caveat attached to the augmentation, however. If Wildomar takes in more sales tax revenue than expected, the allocation will be decreased by a like amount.
The illegal gift of public funds charge and Ste. Marie's attempt to brand himself as a friend of the taxpayer are particularly offensive, Stahovich said.
"The waste of public funds are these frivolous lawsuits," he said.
Pam Walls, assistant county counsel, said Monday that the fiscal analysis used by the formation commission as justification for putting the incorporation question to voters was reviewed and cleared by the State Controller's office.
Ste. Marie, who didn't respond to multiple messages left at his listed phone number, requested that review, which found that a county could commit general fund revenues to help a proposed city become financially viable.
According to the county counsel's review of the suit, there is no "smoking gun" that implicates the county in any wrongdoing.
"We don't think there is," Walls said. "That fiscal analysis has been reviewed. It was appropriate and the revenue sharing agreement is based on the services that the county is no longer being required to provide."
Wildomar area voters approved incorporation in February's election and they selected a five-member City Council from a field of 14 candidates. The electorate also approved dividing the city into five districts to elect future council members. Dividing the city into districts was supported by Ste. Marie.
A case management hearing for Ste. Marie's latest suit is scheduled for late November.
Wildomar will incorporate July 1.
Contact staff writer Aaron Claverie at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or aclaverie@californian.com.
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HMMMMM wrote on Jun 24, 2008 7:23 AM:Let me see - county LOSES first 2 rounds of the legal battle over the college, then the county files a frivolous appeal with the Supreme Court begging the Supreme Court to overturn existing law, and afterwords, claims that St. Marie is "wasting taxpayer dollars"? Seems like Stahovich, Buster and County are wasting tax dollars to me. Maybe they should just do what the courts told them to do - put the college project to a vote by the public. They probably don't like that idea because they realize that Johnny Voter is not going to approve the white elephant being shoved down Wildomar's throat. Thanks St. Marie - your presence is making the county honest whether it likes it or not.
Make him pay wrote on Jun 24, 2008 7:34 AM:If and when the county wins, it should ask the judge to make Ste. Marie pay the county's legal expenses. The taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for one disgruntled citizen's penchant for filing lawsuit after lawsuit.
Make Him Pay wrote on Jun 24, 2008 8:03 AM:County hasn't won a round yet with St.Marie. Perhaps you should do a little research before making your comments. This article distorts the truth. St. Marie has won his cases against the county, proving that the county is dealing a dirty hand. St. Marie isn't wasting taxpayer money, the county is by fighting the lawsuit and refusing to comply with the law.
Anne wrote on Jun 24, 2008 12:28 PM:The people of Wildomar should stand up and cheer this man Gerard Ste. Marie. There is nothing frivolous about his lawsuit and I for one fully support Mr. Ste Marie for having the courage and grit to stand up against the County. It appears that LAFCO and the County are working together to get rid of their responsiblity by fudgeing the numbes for incorporation of Wildomar and that is the same thing that they did to Incorporate Sun City, Romoland, Quail Valley and Menifee into Menifee City. Neither of these newly incorporated Cities are ready to support cityhood. I hope Mr. Ste. Marie wins his case in Court. Its time for County government to stop twisting the laws to benifet themselfs and not the people they were elected to serve.
Sects in the city wrote on Jun 24, 2008 6:47 PM:Sounds like the county would have saved itself a whole lot of their own frivolous money if they obeyed the laws in the first place....Thanks for the common man St.Marie for daring to challenge the "County Caesars" and exposing their corrupt little kingdom agenda...
Sour Grapes wrote on Jun 24, 2008 10:11 PM:Ste. Marie, and whoever his funding source is, fear the local control that comes with cityhood. Be it Wildomar or Menifee. He and his money source are cozy with the the bureaucracy in place at 2080 Lemon Street. They have none of that comfort with local representatives. And, yes, the County has won. The State Controller's Office summarily disagreed with his challenge that the County's assistance package offered to the City of Wildomar was improper. The Ste. Marie vine will dry and is already producing the sour grapes mentioned.
Buster Backer wrote on Jun 27, 2008 1:09 PM:The savvy of Bob Buster will continue to propel LAFCO to victory!
WildomarWatcher wrote on Jun 28, 2008 1:45 PM:Judging from the feedback I'm sharing and receiving from readers, The Californian's staff seems very adverse to printing salient comments that are supportive of Ste. Marie or critical of the city and county establishments.
Since when does it make you a "bad guy" to asked that elected officials follow the letter of the law?
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