As reported by Lou Ponsi in the October 26, 2012 online issue of The Orange County Register, Brea City Council candidate Steve Vargas brought a suit challenging the city clerk’s alleged omission in allowing attribution of oppositions to two ballot measures to the entire city council rather than just two city councilmen who wrote the opposing arguments. (The ballot measures were Measure T, which would limit the city manager’s salary and require that the official live in town, and Measure U, which would impose mandatory time frames for public record requests.) Mr. Vargas, after receiving an adverse decision on the merits, lost his bid for a new trial from Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert Moss. Brea’s city attorney has indicated that the tab for the city’s defense of the suit is approaching $80,000.
Eskimo Town Council. 1900 – 1923. Library of Congress.