When Mission Viejo City Councilman Greg Raths was informed that an Orange County judge removed him from his elected position along with three other council members, he was disappointed.
“With these election hiccups that we're going through, it’s demoralizing,” he said. “We got sued by these attorneys that go around suing cities, school boards, and water boards. It’s a scam by these lawyers because they win and then we have to pay their legal fees, which was $175,000.”
Raths along with Wendy Bucknum and Ed Sachs were ordered by OC Superior Court Judge Walter Schwarm to vacate their elected offices to make way for candidates of color.
“We all got elected,” Raths told the Southern California Record. “We're diverse in our background. I’m military. Another lady is a piano teacher. Another guy was president of a company but we're not diverse in our ethnic backgrounds and that seems to be the stumbling block with this judge.”
The ruling emerged after a legal action called Quo Warranto, was filed in May by Mission Viejo resident Michael Schlesinger, according to media reports. It was just one in a series of previous filings. One of those lawsuits was filed by Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project alleging that at-large elections violated the California Voting Rights Act.
“We were going through a process from a couple of other lawsuits by Hispanic groups saying we're all Caucasian on the council and there's no diversity,” Raths said. “So, we got sued and lost. The judge told us to come up with a plan to get more minorities on our council so we went to districts.”
However, switching from at-large to district elections didn’t solve the alleged problem. Council members Raths, Bucknam, and Sachs will be listed on the ballot in November.
If voters elect him, Raths said he will again return to his city council seat.
“Maybe we'll get sued again because there's another white guy they’ve got to get rid of,” Raths added. “I don't know. I'm well-loved in the community. They love me. I love them. I work hard. I'm very active in the community. I’m in the Elks Club, the Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce, and the VFW. So, I feel I can win.”
As previously reported in the Southern California Record, Raths, who is a resident of Mission Viejo, campaigned for a seat in the 40th Congressional District as a Republican but did not advance out of the June 7 primary.
All three Mission Viejo council members have appealed Judge Schwarm's order.
"There are only two members left on the council and you can't run a city without a quorum so for about a month and a half, all of October and up through election day on November 8th, the city won't be able to do any business as far as the council voting on issues like road construction," Raths added. "Hopefully, we can win the appeal this month and get back to work."