RICO or SLAPP?
When I went to meetings at the US Fish & Wildlife Service office in Carlsbad CA on behalf of land developers a few years ago, there was a car in their parking lot with the bumper sticker, "Developers, Go Build in Hell!" After my clients and I protested, the head of the Carlsbad office laid down the law, requiring that Service employees not engage in such public displays of their personal prejudices.
Now a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) lawsuit is pushing this point further, charging a husband and wife US Forest Service team of conspiring with a local environmental activist to stop a project proposed on land adjacent to their home. They counter that it's an illegal SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) lawsuit.
The owner of the property in question, Irving Okovita, bought 12.5 acres near the town of Fawnskin on the shore of Big Bear Lake, a popular resort destination in Southern California. He hopes to build condos and a marina there. The Forest Service employees, Robin (a biologist) and Scott (a botanist) Eliason live near the property and are members of the anti-Okovita group Friends of Fawnskin.
Okavita alleges the Eliasons and their supervisor, Gene Zimmerman, worked with Friends of Fawnskin activist Sandy Steers to stop the project, and provided government information to Steers for that purpose.
Usually, developers can strike a compromise with regulators, sustaining a palatable economic loss (a smaller development) in return for permission to build. In this case, Okavita faced Forest Service employees who were, in fact, activists with a vested economic interest in the outcome of the planning process.
Federal employees should be prohibited across the board from joining groups engaged in areas they are responsible for regulating, be that group the Building Industry Association or Friends of Fawnskin. It's required of judges, it's even required of journalists.
I'm hoping that soon it will be required of the Eliasons and others like them, no matter what the merits of Okavita's case. I'll be following this case.
Now a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) lawsuit is pushing this point further, charging a husband and wife US Forest Service team of conspiring with a local environmental activist to stop a project proposed on land adjacent to their home. They counter that it's an illegal SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) lawsuit.
The owner of the property in question, Irving Okovita, bought 12.5 acres near the town of Fawnskin on the shore of Big Bear Lake, a popular resort destination in Southern California. He hopes to build condos and a marina there. The Forest Service employees, Robin (a biologist) and Scott (a botanist) Eliason live near the property and are members of the anti-Okovita group Friends of Fawnskin.
Okavita alleges the Eliasons and their supervisor, Gene Zimmerman, worked with Friends of Fawnskin activist Sandy Steers to stop the project, and provided government information to Steers for that purpose.
Usually, developers can strike a compromise with regulators, sustaining a palatable economic loss (a smaller development) in return for permission to build. In this case, Okavita faced Forest Service employees who were, in fact, activists with a vested economic interest in the outcome of the planning process.
Federal employees should be prohibited across the board from joining groups engaged in areas they are responsible for regulating, be that group the Building Industry Association or Friends of Fawnskin. It's required of judges, it's even required of journalists.
I'm hoping that soon it will be required of the Eliasons and others like them, no matter what the merits of Okavita's case. I'll be following this case.
posted by Laer at 9:17 AM
<< Home