Judge sides with Englander’s rivals on ballot title
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge sided with candidates running against L.A. City Councilman Mitch Englander in a race for county supervisor, ruling that Englander can’t call himself a “police officer,” or even a “reserve policeman,” on the ballot.
Englander is one of eight candidates running to replace retiring longtime Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich. He originally described himself as “Councilmember/ Police Officer” in his ballot designation.
Three of his rivals — prosecutor Elan Carr, state Sen. Bob Huff and Glendale Mayor Ara Najarian — challenged the description, saying it was intended to mislead voters into thinking Englander was a full-time cop when he is actually a volunteer reserve officer. They sought a court order blocking the description from the ballot.
Judge Robert H. O’Brien agreed at Wednesday’s hearing that the “police officer” ballot designation was misleading and called it “inappropriate.”
He also said the word “reserve” should be added to a section in Englander’s candidate statement, which now reads, “As a Police Officer, I patrolled our streets for over a decade.”
Englander subsequently amended his ballot designation to “Councilmember/Reserve Policeman,” which the county’s office of registrar-recorder accepted.
But the other candidates promptly challenged that description as well, arguing that being a reserve is not Englander’s principal vocation.
O’Brien sided with the opponents again Thursday, leaving Englander with the designation “Councilmember.”
His opponents crowed over the court’s decision.
“Today and yesterday, the Superior Court sent a strong signal that honesty and integrity matters,” Carr said in a statement. “I honor Mitch’s service in uniform, but he has to tell voters the truth.”
Carr’s campaign manager, John Thomas, went farther, saying Englander “did a disservice to all men and women who wear the badge full time.”
Stephen Kaufman, Englander’s campaign attorney, said Thursday that O’Brien “just plain got it wrong.”
“His ruling today is an affront to all the dedicated men and women who wear the LAPD badge and put their lives on the line for the people of Los Angeles,” he said in a statement. “There is no disputing that Mr. Englander graduated top of his class at the Police Academy, and has patrolled our city’s streets for more than a decade.”
The opposing candidates had also sought to have the court require Englander to specify that he is a member of the Los Angeles City Council, as the county district includes a number of other cities, but the judge did not side with them on that point.
Kaufman claimed victory on that count.
“We are pleased that the judge rejected the ridiculous claim that Mr. Englander did not have the right to describe himself as a ‘council member,’” he said.
O’Brien also sided with a candidate in a second supervisorial race who challenged a rival’s ballot designation.
Ralph Pacheco, a Whittier school board member who is running for the seat being vacated by Supervisor Don Knabe, challenged rival Steve Napolitano’s description of himself as “L.A. County Deputy Supervisor.” Napolitano is a field deputy to Knabe and the only Republican in the race.
After the judge sided with Pacheco, Napolitano changed his designation to “Supervisor’s Senior Deputy.”
Eight candidates are running for Antonovich’s seat and three for Knabe’s.