A nearly yearlong dispute between the chairman of the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce and a supporter of the anti-oil campaign was resolved Friday in an unusual settlement at the Torrance Courthouse.
Chamber Chairman Ken Hartley and local resident Ron Siegel met at the courthouse for a 10 a.m. trial to determine whether Siegel had illegally dropped three anti-oil stickers on Hartley’s driveway and put others on nearby signs in the midst of the Measure O debate on whether to drill for oil in Hermosa. (Hartley charged Siegel, using a citizen’s arrest, and the case was later taken up on his behalf by the city prosecutor’s office).
Just before the trial was set to begin on Friday, the city prosecutor’s office, in a move that only added to the case’s oddness, offered to dismiss the case if Siegel donated $50 to a charitable organization. Siegel would also be reimbursed the $496 he was originally fined.
Siegel accepted the offer – at first hoping to donate the money to anti-oil group Keep Hermosa Hermosa – before the city attorney’s office clarified that the money was to be donated to a charity rather than a political group. It was just the latest in a chain of strange events that have taken place recently between those who supported and opposed drilling.
“This thing is bigger than a littering fine,” Siegel said. “Hartley’s been going after a lot of the visible anti-oil activists.”
Siegel was quick to link his case to that of Chris Miller, the anti-oil activist who lost her board seat at the chamber of commerce after Chief Sharon Papa contacted Hartley with allegations, which have since come under scrutiny, that Miller yelled obscenities at police on the night of the oil election. City Manager Tom Bakaly is now investigating whether police accounts of that night were truthful, and whether Papa’s handling of the incident was appropriate.
Two other anti-oil activists at the courtroom on Friday, Jose Bacallao and Joe Galliani, also said they have had run-ins or confrontations with Hartley.
Siegel’s case dates back to the morning of July 27, when Hartley claims to have discovered three yellow, anti-oil stickers on his driveway bearing a Banksy-inspired cartoon rat holding a sign reading, “E&B Oil Slick Liars.” The stickers still had their backing and thus weren’t stuck to anything on the property. Another of the stickers was stuck to a nearby sign, constituting the second alleged violation.
Hartley pored over his security camera footage, and found that a person in a hoodie and sandals, walking a dog, had thrown the stickers on his driveway the night before. Hartley contacted the police, believing he was targeted for displaying a pro-oil “Support Responsible Energy Recovery” banner on his balcony and that the stickers were meant to possibly “intimidate him into either changing or suppressing his political views,” according to a police document.
A friend of Hartley’s identified the person in the black-and-white video footage as Siegel, who lives just a block-and-a-half away. Hartley confronted Siegel at his house about the stickers and Siegel apologized and said it wouldn’t happen again, according to Hartley’s account in a police document. But Hartley decided to press charges in September, after finding more stickers nearby.
He cited two violations of the municipal code: one that prohibits throwing handbills for “commercial purposes” on the premises of residences with a “no advertising sign,” and another that prohibits painting, marking, writing or posting handbills on public property such as lamp posts or street signs.
In an October interview with a detective, Siegel recalled his interaction with Hartley at his house differently, saying Hartley had followed him and his son home from the park and threw a “temper tantrum” in front of Siegel’s house. Siegel told the detective, when asked if he had thrown the stickers, “No, I don’t have any comment on that,” according to the police document.
In the following months, the case was taken up by the city prosecutor’s office, overseen by Redondo Beach City Attorney Mike Webb, which has raised some eyebrows.
“Mr. Hartley contacted the prosecutor’s office directly and insisted on pursuing the matter via a citizen’s arrest,” Police Chief Sharon Papa wrote Siegel in an email. “The decision to go forward was made by the prosecutor’s office, not the police department.”
The matter came before the city council on May 26 after Siegel submitted a letter to the city expressing his outrage.
Councilwoman Carolyn Petty questioned whether the case was a good use of the city prosecutor’s time.
“This is not a freebie,” she said, “I want to use the prosecutor in a judicious manner.”
Councilman Hany Fangary worried that a precedent could be set to fine others who distribute political materials, including councilmembers.
“We’ve all done this,” Fangary said, “My question is whether the alleged violation violates the code. At this point, it’s not clear to me.”
The settlement with the city would appear to do little to clarify the issue. Under the deal, Siegel has six months to provide proof of a $50 charitable donation to the court, at which time the city will dismiss the case. He said earlier this week he had donated the money to a non-profit called “Stomp Out Bullying.”
Siegel said he was taking the high road by settling and not using up more of the city’s and the court’s time. Still he acknowledged the whole ordeal had cost him and the city far too much time, effort and money already.
Hartley said he was satisfied with the outcome, although he declined to comment further. The day after the settlement, he posted a quote from German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer to his Facebook page.
“Every truth passes through three stages before it is recognized,” it read. “In the first, it is ridiculed, in the second it is opposed, in the third it is regarded as self-evident.”
