COVER
STORY | CALENDAR
April 10, 2003
Legal
warriors clash again
Tim Stoen and Jared Carter
are less than chummy
by
ANDREW EDWARDS
Two old adversaries are squaring
off in the fraud case brought against Pacific Lumber Co. by Humboldt
County District Attorney Paul Gallegos.
In one corner is Gallegos' lieutenant,
Tim Stoen, formerly of the Mendocino County District Attorney's
Office, who wrote the 45-page complaint. In the other is Jared
Carter, PL's lead counsel and vice-president.
Both are deep in their 60s.
Both are veterans of contentious North Coast lawsuits. Both are
Stanford law graduates. Both are conservative Republicans (although
Stoen at one time was liberal, even radical). And both have spent
their careers on completely different sides of the legal fence.
"Obviously, they're going
to be polarized adversaries because Tim is such an environmental
advocate and Jared is such a defender of the rich and powerful,"
said Maggie O'Rourke, a Ukiah attorney. "And they're both
alpha male types. They're natural enemies."
The lawyers first met in 1964
while Carter was an assistant professor at Stanford.
Carter, four years older, had
returned to his alma mater after a stint as clerk to Supreme
Court Justice William O. Douglas. He was teaching bankruptcy,
contracts and international law. Stoen was his student.
Stoen's classmate Paul Van Buren
remembered them both: Stoen as a "very nice man," and
Carter as a young teacher who was "just not strong on bankruptcy."
In Stoen's opinion that's selling
Carter short: The man is just too smart to be incompetent.
"I want to treat Jared
with the respect he deserves," Stoen said. "And part
of that respect is that, intellectually, he's a powerhouse."
After Stanford the two took
paths that couldn't have been more different.
The idealistic Stoen became
a socialist, representing the Black Panthers, forsaking his worldly
possessions and ending up as the No. 2 man in Jim Jones' People's
Temple. In the end, Stoen turned on Jones and fought for custody
of his 5-year-old son, who ended up dying in the mass suicide
in Guyana.
Carter, on the other hand, went
into public service. He worked for the federal departments of
Defense, State and Interior, where he received the Outstanding
Service Award for his work on the negotiations that led to the
trans-Alaska oil pipeline.
By the early `80s both were
in private practice in Mendocino County. The two were even friends,
dining together on at least one occasion at Carter's house.
But all of that was before the
Kravis development.
In 1992 a doctor, medical text
author, and real estate wheeler-dealer named Thomas Kravis proposed
building a 36-acre resort on the hills above the seaside town
of Mendocino. Plans called for cutting down most of the trees,
damming a stream and building campsites, a mini-convention center
and cabins.
Local residents set out to oppose
the development, contending that it would completely change the
atmosphere of the town.
Stoen and about a dozen other
lawyers joined with citizens to form a group called the Mendocino
County Defense Committee.
Carter -- you guessed it --
represented the development group, which included Kravis's wife
Mavourneen O'Connor, her twin sister Maureen O'Connor (then the
mayor of San Diego) and Maureen's husband R. O. Peterson, the
founder of Jack-in-the-Box. The group was known unflatteringly
as the "San Diego mafia."
To proceed, Kravis needed the
Mendocino Board of Supervisors to rezone the area slated for
development.
The first thing Carter did was
fire off a letter to the supervisors asserting that if they didn't
approve the project they'd be liable to the property owners.
(Carter has tried a similar approach in the PL case, warning
publicly that if Gallegos proceeds the company will countersue
and hold the county liable for damages and court costs.)
"One of Jared Carter's
strategies was writing very threatening and long legal memorandums
to the Board of Supervisors," recalled Steve Antler, another
attorney who was opposed to the project. "When the lawyer
on the other side sees these massive papers with 50 pages of
law in them, they're ready to give up."
But, lucky for the Mendocino
Defense Committee, they had Stoen.
"Every time they filed
a 50-page memo explaining why [the Board of Supervisors] had
to approve the project, Tim Stoen would file a 50-page memo explaining
why they couldn't approve the project," Antler said. "That
eliminated that tactic."
Frustrated, Carter groped for
another approach. He ended up taking the gloves off.
Carter called the other side
"riff-raff." In a public radio debate he falsely accused
one member of the defense committee of trying to build her own
subdivision. At a board meeting, he is alleged to have walked
up to an opponent of the development who was carrying a slide
projector and asked if the case it was in held a machine gun
(this was interpreted as a bullying tactic; either that, or a
bad joke). At one point he had some members of the defense committee
convinced their phones were tapped. He haughtily asked why he
should worry when the other side had only a bunch of unemployed
lawyers representing them.
All of these tactics, according
to Antler, amounted to an attempt to get the other side excited
and off track. "[Carter] is a master of getting people to
go down side alleys where he can ambush and destroy them,"
Antler said. He said Stoen and others knew they'd win if they
just stuck to the facts.
Apparently they did just that,
as the supervisors ultimately turned down the rezoning request
on a decisive 4-1 vote.
Carter said his memories of
the case are dim.
"As events go it wasn't
that big of a deal," he said, speaking by telephone from
his Ukiah office.
Referring to his "riff-raff"
remark, he laughed, saying it probably hit "unfortunately
close to home" for those who remember it.
As to his methods: "I suppose
if you're around long enough every tactic is used if you think
it will work," Carter said. "And you can whine and
cry or you can bluster."
He added: "If you've got
the facts on your side, you argue the facts. If you have the
law on your side, you argue the law. If you don't have either
one, you pound the table."
As to negative impacts on his
opponents: "You can't worry very much about that if you're
going to represent your clients," he said.
Most of the lawyers who went
up against Carter in the Kravis case realized Carter was just
doing his job and let his comments slide.
"Jared's just a pugnacious
guy. I didn't take it personally," Antler said.
But, according to Stoen, he
and Carter haven't talked since the vote. He declined to say
why, but it's safe to say the two -- at least from Stoen's point
of view -- have had a genuine falling-out. Carter refused to
characterize it that way.
"Lawyers don't have falling-outs
because they represent different sides," he said.
One way or the other, after
nine years these two old opponents have been thrown back in the
ring for another fight, and one that promises to be at least
as hard-fought, if not more so.
After all, it's not just an
outsiders' resort at stake here; it's an employer with more than
1,000 workers and a long-standing bond with the hearts of Humboldt
County's blue collar work force as well as its old boys' network.
Stay tuned.
Successful
recalls fo DAs are rare
Based on the past, Paul Gallegos'
chances of survival look good
by
ANDREW EDWARDS
As the ramp-up to a recall of
Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos begins, with
opinion polls, fund-raising, etc., it may be germane to consider
this: There hasn't been a successful recall of a California district
attorney in the last 20 years.
In fact, over that time period
there was only one recall election that even came to a vote.
That was in Marin County in 2001 when District Attorney Paula
Kamena was challenged over her enforcement, or lack thereof,
of Prop. 215, which legalized medical marijuana. She won a resounding
victory, pulling in 85 percent of the vote.
On the other hand, recalls are
often threatened, especially when a newly elected official challenges
the status quo.
That's what happened three years
ago in Mendocino County when newly elected District Attorney
Norman Vroman was threatened with recall over his handling of
a controversial domestic violence case. It never got past the
petition stage.
Vroman, reached at his Ukiah
office, said that recall drives that come not long after a new
DA has come onto the job are usually nothing more than the last
gasp of the supporters of the ex-DA, or the individual who lost
the election if the incumbent didn't run.
"[They're saying] `We know
he shouldn't have been elected in the first place,'" Vroman
said.
Vroman suggested that the ability
to launch a recall effort can be misused. "[Recall] becomes
a tool that is used when people think: `We don't like what you're
doing, we don't care if it's legal or illegal, we just don't
like it.'"
Vroman said that a new DA taking
on one of the county's economic powerhouses -- as Gallegos has
done with his suit against Pacific Lumber -- has given Gallegos'
enemies a new layer of motivation. Vroman said he thought the
fact that they're going after the prosecutor, rather than the
charges themselves, signifies something.
"The fact that they start
attacking the person who's filing the charges leads me to believe
they're in trouble; they don't want to deal with the merits of
the case," Vroman said.
The first step in any recall
effort is to notify county election officials. (As of press time
on Tuesday, such notification had not been given.) Then the recall
must be announced in a local newspaper.
After those two steps have been
taken, recall leaders have 160 days to gather the signatures
of 15 percent of the registered voters in Humboldt County, or
11,157 people.
Rick Brazeau of MTC, a local
political consulting and advertising firm, who is involved in
the recall effort, declined to comment for this article, as did
Robin Arkley Sr., who has promised to put up $5,000 as seed money
for the recall campaign.
Big
Box ordiance coming
by
EMILY GURNON
A year after it was first proposed,
the controversial "big box" retail ordinance is scheduled
to come before the Eureka City Council on April 15.
The ordinance, which would require
a conditional use permit for all major retail development, has
been characterized by opponents as a "restriction on retail
stores." Backers, on the other hand, have dubbed it a "smart
growth" initiative and insist that it has nothing to do
with the city telling people where they can and cannot shop.
"The ordinance clearly
doesn't restrict retail choice or square foot size," said
Councilmember Chris Kerrigan, who originally proposed it. "This
is about the process of updating zoning codes to address modern
development. This is a recognition that growth is going to come
to Eureka and that we need to have zoning codes and standards
in place that reflect the type of develop that fits in with our
community."
For opponent Linda Disiere,
the ordinance represents "one more layer" on an already
cumbersome development process. "All it's doing is killing
development and jobs," she said. Developers will look at
it and say, "we don't want to deal with you," because
time is money.
Disiere, owner-broker of the
commercial real estate firm Willis & Disiere, said she also
objects to the ordinance's requirement that major retailers prepare
an economic study. The study would include a market analysis
on the trade area of the proposed development, the present and
future population of the area, buying power within the area,
estimated wages, projected number of jobs, etc. "So I give
you all that information and then what?" she asked. "What
are they looking for? How are they going to judge what the overall
benefit is?"
That section of the ordinance
may, in fact, be its most controversial. Charlene Cutler-Ploss,
vice president of Keep Eureka Beautiful, said the citizens group
wholeheartedly endorses the ordinance. But she personally has
qualms about the economic study. It's too subjective, she said.
"When you ask people to do a study, the answer is often
predetermined by the way the question is asked." But overall,
the measure is a "very well-written, reasonable, moderate"
one, said the former City Council candidate.
Current council members say
they have received dozens of calls on the ordinance. Both sides
have taken out newspaper ads exhorting their supporters to speak
out on the issue.
Specifically, the measure would
be added to Eureka's existing zoning code, parts of which have
not been updated for decades. It would require a conditional
use permit for major retail development, which is defined as
new or expanded construction on 10 acres or more, or new or expanded
construction over 40,000 square feet. Permitting is currently
required only in certain parts of the city. The new ordinance
also includes development standards that have not existed before.
Those standards specify that
a "typical or classic `big box' design" -- such as
a large four-sided building with little or no ornamentation or
unique architecture -- "shall not be allowed." (Meaning
that CostCo, in its current form, would probably not have been
permitted, according to the Planning Department's Sidnie Olson.)
The standards also call for the maximum height of the building's
walls to be no higher than a neighboring residential district
when that district is within 300 feet of the site. Other development
standards govern off-street parking, rooftop equipment, parking
and security lights, and signs.
The ordinance was drafted over
the past year by the planning staff, at the direction of the
Planning Commission, using other cities' codes as models. Six
workshops have been held to gauge public sentiment.
Liana Simpson, owner of Sequoia
Personnel Services, said her main objection to the ordinance
is that it would be "unnecessary."
"We're unlikely to have
urban sprawl," she said. "The city of Eureka doesn't
have any land to sprawl onto. This ordinance is one more (tool)
for the activists to pull out as a stopping block for growth.
I am not wanting to see Eureka be a protectionist community."
Direct
Action in Eureka
Dozens of anti-war protesters,
many in costume, converged on the Federal Building in Eureka
Monday for a protest that included chants to a rhythm beaten
on newspaper boxes. (left).
A street theater action shut
down traffic on Hwy. 101, forcing Capt. Murl Harpham and others
from the Eureka Police Department to arrest four demonstrators.
(right). They were charged with refusing an officer's order to
clear the street.
photos by BOB DORAN
It's
just crud
by
EMILY GURNON
Have you been coughing for weeks
on end? Feeling achy? Worn out? Congested from your head on down?
If you're like many people, you've simply attributed it to our
homegrown brand of viral nastiness: the Humboldt Crud.
Except that there's no such
thing.
Oh, the viruses are real, all
right. It's just that we here in Humboldt County have no special
variety to call our own, local physicians said.
"There's no real entity
called the Humboldt Crud," said Dr. Cory Aden-Wansbury,
an ear, nose and throat specialist in Eureka. "We live in
a climate that tends to be not the greatest for respiratory problems
-- it's damp a lot of the year, so there's a little more respiratory
illness up here," but when patients talk about "the
crud," he just nods and smiles, he said. "I think people
in Brookings are probably just as likely to have problems."
The physiology of cold viruses
works this way, Aden-Wansbury said: Our noses respond to the
cold weather by warming and humidifying the air we breathe before
it gets to our lungs. In the process, our nose tissues swell,
the veins dilate and we get drippy. That in turn leads to some
nasal obstruction.
There is no question that there's
an increase in respiratory illness in the colder months. There's
a larger pool of viruses in the winter, Aden-Wansbury said.
And allergies may prolong and
intensify our suffering, doctors said. "People have allergies
everywhere, but the more outside vegetation you have, the more
pollen and the more potential allergies," said Dr. John
Mogel, a Fortuna pediatrician. If you live in Redding, you can
watch the grass grow for a while, but then the hot sun dries
it out. Not here. "Our season just seems to go on and on
and on," Mogel said.
Of course, people moving here
from other areas may get sick more often in the first two or
three years, physicians said. But that's true anywhere. "Your
body does build up immunities to these things," said Dr.
Jeff Corral-Ribordy, a pediatrician in McKinleyville and Eureka.
"Most infections, once you get them, you don't get them
again." Children who go to day care when they're preschoolers
get all the illnesses that their stay-at-home cousins won't get
until kindergarten, for instance. Then the day care kids are
the ones who stay healthy.
The bad news? "There are
hundreds of viruses that cause upper respiratory illness,"
Corral-Ribordy said. And small mutations in existing viruses
-- one of which appears to be causing the potentially fatal Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) around the globe -- can result
in big problems.
So keep drinking that water,
washing your hands and getting plenty of rest. And, if you have
the money, you can do what the wealthy Canadian farmers do for
the winter. "They just split to their condos" in Hawaii,
said Aden-Wansbury. "If you have a lot of respiratory tract
illness, you go to Palm Springs for a couple weeks, you'll probably
get better."
Student
death accidental
The University Police Department
has ruled that the April 3 death of Humboldt State University
student Jack Morgan Carter was an accident. Carter, 20, of Mendocino,
had climbed out of his third-story room in the Redwood Hall dormitory
about 5:45 p.m. last Wednesday and was attempting to get onto
the roof when he slipped and fell to the concrete below, police
said.
Dorm residents and staff rushed
to his aid, performing CPR. He was taken first to Mad River Hospital
in Arcata and then transported by helicopter to Mercy Medical
Center in Redding, where he
was pronounced dead at 12:45 a.m.
Placebo
back in play
Placebo, the Arcata-based arts
and music promotional group, has finally found a home, after
nearly two years of searching.
That home is the Manila Community
Center, located on Peninsula Drive off Highway 255 between Eureka
and Arcata. The group is renting an office and studio space at
the center and using its classrooms and main hall for shows.
"I think it's a good fit,"
said Placebo leader Abe Ray on Tuesday. "We could call it
semi-permanent, like funky colors: It's green until it fades
out."
The all-ages shows will begin
at 8 p.m., ending around 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends.
Admission will be $3 or $4.
Dioxin found
near Klamath
A popular fishing site just
north of Klamath on Highway 101 has been barricaded and closed
due to the discovery of contaminants in local groudwater.
Elevated levels of dioxin, PCP
and TCP were discovered at the Lagoon Creek Day Use Area when
the Regional Water Quality Control Board tested a sediment sample
from a local pond. The contaminants consist of wood treatment
products and by-products that pose a significant threat to people
who come in contact with them.
No fishing will be allowed for
the foreseeable future, and authorities recommend that any fish
caught there recently be disposed of. For further information
call 464-6101.
SMUD drops
out
Increased flows on the Trinity
River have one less opponent.
The Sacramento Municipal Utility
District (SMUD) last week withdrew from a lawsuit challenging
former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt's decision on the Trinity,
which called for less of the river's water to go to Central Valley
utilities and agriculture.
SMUD and Westlands Water District
had sued the federal government over Babbitt's ruling, issued
in December 2000.
U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger
ruled in favor of the two last fall, saying, in effect, that
until the federal government comes up with a new restoration
plan, the water diversions can continue.
The Hoopa tribe appealed that
ruling, leaving Westlands and SMUD in opposition. Now, with SMUD's
withdrawal, Westlands stands alone.
Last fall, 33,000 salmon died
on the Klamath River, which the Trinity feeds into, because of
low water levels.
COVER
STORY | CALENDAR
Comments?
© Copyright 2003, North Coast Journal,
Inc.
|