Darrell Satzman and Amber Willard
BURBANK -- The point may be moot now, but Burbank officials feel
vindicated just the same.
State Attorney General Bill Lockyer ruled this week that Burbank City
Clerk Judie Sarquiz acted appropriately when she disqualified the Restore
Our Airport Rights ballot initiative in March. Lockyer said the city of
Burbank was not only correct to reject a petition by opponents of Burbank
Airport expansion, it was obligated to do so.
ROAR officials, now in the process of putting together a revised
initiative to present to Burbank voters, said they still believe the
initial petition was valid.
Burbank City Manager Robert "Bud" Ovrom said that was nonsense and
insinuated that ROAR leaders ought to apologize to Sarquiz for "vicious
personal attacks."
"Judie is an outstanding city clerk and I am very pleased that her
decision has been totally vindicated by the attorney general," Ovrom said
in a written statement. "The attorney general has now said she was
absolutely right and they were dead wrong."
At issue was Sarquiz' rejection of the ROAR petition despite the fact
the group had gathered more than 7,000 signatures for a ballot
initiative. The ROAR initiative sought to prevent Burbank from agreeing
to any deal with Burbank Airport that did not include a mandatory
nighttime curfew and a cap on flights.
Sarquiz said the petition was invalid because the group did not list
the name of its leaders on the form. ROAR officials countered that the
name of the organization was plain to see and that Sarquiz was motivated
by politics. In the end, the city disqualified the petition and agreed to
ask the attorney general to rule on the matter.
"Nobody asked if ROAR complied with the law," ROAR chairman Howard
Rothenbach said Friday.
He said the request by Burbank officials did not ask if the group had
complied by listing its name, but instead asked if it had not complied by
failing to list his name and that of co-chairman Ted McConkey.
While the group had hoped for a different ruling from Lockyer,
Rothenbach said, it remains undeterred in its efforts to limit airport
expansion.
"We're going to move ahead with a better initiative. (Lockyer's
opinion) is not going to stop us," Rothenbach said.
Signature gathering on the revised ROAR petition has been delayed as
the group's attorneys give it a final review. The petition could be
presented to the Burbank city attorney for analysis next week, officials
said. Supporters will then have until October to gather the necessary
5,200 signatures for inclusion on the February ballot.
Ovrom said the city will review the petition just as closely as it did
the first time.
"Julie (Sarquiz) always has an obligation to adhere to the law," Ovrom
said.
