A Santa Ana law firm has served a demand letter to La Palma officials regarding their refusal to enforce an ordinance requiring permits for the erection of temporary signs on non-residential property.
Adam Sechooler, the Costa Mesa lawyer who penned the letter, suggested the city’s refusal to enforce the supportive signs could reflect an attempt to put a finger on the scales of justice regarding a ballot measure that could reward several incumbents with as much as 20 years in office.
“If such violations persist or worsen, we are prepared to take all appropriate legal action, which could include action against individual staff or members of the La Palma City Council,” his letter warned the city.
Further, Sechooler suggested the City, with its apparent finger on the scales in favor of its ballot measure, could be in violation of the U.S. Constitution. “I am in receipt of troubling information concerning the City’s failure to enforce its ordinances regarding temporary signs and, more gravely, favoring certain political positions or candidates within the City,”
Sechooler said he wrote the letter representing local resident Bob Carruth, who is the spokesperson for a group of local citizens, including former mayors, who are opposed by the city’s proposed changes to city that are included in ballot “Measure W” on the Nov. 5 ballot.
Carruth said before hiring an attorney, he repeatedly requested permit applications from City Manager Conal McNarama and other staff members responsible for issuing sign permits. Under the law approved by the city council in December of 2021, the erection of temporary signs on non-residential property required approved permit
Sechooler wrote,“The City has enforced certain sign restrictions stringently while ignoring others that favor a particular viewpoint. In particular, the City is favoring speech in support of the “W” ballot measure—which is supported by the La Palma City Council majority—while discriminating against speech opposed to the measure,” the letter continued.
“This is impermissible under the Constitution, which prohibits restrictions,” the attorney said. The law does not exempt temporary signs permits for political campaigns, he added.
Carruth suggested the city managers’ refusal to enforce the ordinance is because “this measure is 100 percent of, by, and for the ruling majority.”
“We believe that Mr. McNamara’s refusal to enforce the code is because sitting Council members and their ‘Yes on Measure W’ committee placed the unpermitted signs on numerous non-residential properties,” said Carruth. The ENE has reached out to La Palma’s Mayor, City Manager, and its legal advisor Ajit Thind, but at press time, has not heard back.