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Boyle and city square off in court
by Jason Dietrich
Redondo activist Chris Boyle took the stand Tuesday in a lawsuit against the city that was prompted when a former mayor threw him out of a series of city council meetings for allegedly being disruptive.
The trial entered its second day on Wednesday.
The lawsuit, said City Attorney Jerry Goddard, will ultimately cost the city in excess of $350,000.
Boyle sued under state law alleging that the city, city council members, mayor and city attorney were impinging on his right to participate in civic government and that his reputation and business had suffered as a result.
Claims against Parton and all defendants, except the city, were dropped. The trial, stemming from incidents between Dec. 20, 1997 and Jan. 17, 1998, began Tuesday, after nine continuations.
Boyle is currently paying off judgements totaling nearly $32,000 from other suits against the city.
State law doesn't provide for cash damages in this case, but Boyle is seeking attorney's fees, and has asked Federal Judge Mariana Pfaelzer to order training for city council members on the state's Brown Act, which governs the way public meetings are held.
Boyle's first ejection came after a holiday tie with a miniature music box went off in a council meeting.
"Could you please have him removed from the meeting, for the rest of the meeting," Parton ordered, according to a videotape of the meeting.
Boyle's lawyer, Robert Martin argued that Boyle was repeatedly thrown out of meetings because Parton didn't like what Boyle was saying, not because Boyle was being disruptive. Boyle was never ruled out of order, and was never rude to the mayor, Martin said.
Boyle hasn't been ejected from a city council meeting since January of 1996. He says he's spoken between 75 and 125 times at city council meetings since then. Michael Leslie, an attorney for the city, argued that Boyle's right to participate hasn't been impaired. He said Boyle has spoken more than 300 times before public commissions and agencies since his last ejection. Leslie also argued that Boyle didn't follow the rules for submitting complaints under the Brown Act.
Boyle said he was surprised that the matter went to trial.
"I always thought this would be resolved the way things were where I grew up. Back east, when people had differences, they worked them out," he said.
Goddard said the city offered Boyle an apology from Parton, a change in meeting rules and a cash settlement in 1997, before costs on both sides had mounted.
Boyle said that was "nonsense," and that Parton didn't show up for a meeting set to resolve the case.
"There's always been reasonable offers on the table. But there's also been differences of opinion," said Martin. ER