CUSD Recall Court Hearing Set for April 28
Parent group challenges ballot statements

The CUSD Recall Committee filed a lawsuit last week to strike proposed ballot statements in the June 24 special election to recall two trustees. The group is seeking a writ of mandate to strike certain statements by Trustees Marlene Draper and Sheila Benecke, who are targets in the recall.

On Monday, April 28, a superior court judge will hear the lawsuit brought by members of the CUSD Recall Committee asking the court to strike “numerous false, misleading and illegal statements contained in candidate statements filed by recall targets Marlene Draper and Sheila Benecke, two trustees of the Capistrano Unified School District.” The matter has been scheduled for hearing before Judge Steven L. Perk at 8:30 a.m. in Department C32 of the Superior Court of California, County of Orange, 700 Civic Center Drive West, Santa Ana

On April 21, CUSD Recall Committee members filed the legal action in Orange County Superior Court against Draper and Benecke, seeking expedited court intervention to strike certain statements made by the two recall targets in the optional “Candidate Statement of Qualifications” each filed with the Orange County Registrar of Voters on April12. Any final approved Candidate Statement of Qualifications will be published in the sample ballot sent to all voters prior to the special election.

California law requires that a Candidate Statement of Qualifications contain only a brief description of the candidate’s "education and qualifications,” and it expressly prohibits a candidate from including in her Candidate Statement of Qualifications any reference to the “qualifications, character or activities” of her political opponents. In addition, California law prohibits including in any such statements “any material that is false or misleading.”

The group says the Statement of Qualifications filed by Draper and Benecke violated California law in several respects. For additional information and a specific description of the statements made by Draper and Benecke, read a copy of the Petition for Writ of Mandate posted at www.cusdrecall.com