MOORPARK MUST PAY LEGAL FEES; JUDGE LIMITS SUM TO EXPENSES.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Daily News Staff Writer

The city of Moorpark was ordered Friday to pay more than $6,000 to SOAR proponents to cover their legal costs in defending their written ballot argument against a city-sponsored growth boundary measure.

But in ordering the city to pay the opposing side's $6,630 legal bill, the judge rejected attorney Richard Francis' argument that he was entitled to a higher fee because he took the case on a contingency basis.

``On balance, I feel that paying reasonable attorney fees is all that is called for,'' Judge Thomas J. Hutchins said.

In August, Francis defended Roseann Mikos, author of the argument against Measure F and a leader of the Moorpark Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources movement, in the suit.

For his work, he had asked the court to award legal costs of $11,077.50 - 1.75 times the actual amount that was charged in the case.

Some in the city criticized that request, saying that since the money will be paid by taxpayers, the defendants should not have asked for more than was actually expended.

``Even though I thought the judge's original decision was wrong, if they are entitled to $6,000 in attorney's fees, fine,'' said Councilman Chris Evans, a critic of the SOAR movement. ``My whole problem is that they are asking for more than they are entitled to.''

Mikos could not be reached for comment Friday.

Francis said that because he took the case on a contingency basis, he stood the chance of losing financially if the judge had ruled against him. The law allows an attorney to recover more than expended because of that risk, he said.

The city filed a lawsuit to try to amend the language in the ballot argument against the City Council's Measure F, saying that it was misleading and false.

But Hutchins decided in August that ballot arguments are known to be the opinion of the writer and therefore given to hyperbole, and that they are within the definition of fair comment.

While SOAR supporters criticized the city for initiating the lawsuit against several of its residents, officials said they were justified in questioning the ballot language.

``Roseann Mikos put forward assertions that I believe were misleading,'' Evans said. ``We asked her to change it, she said no, and we couldn't come to an agreement. That's why you go to a judge, you get a third opinion.''

Francis said he will put the legal fee he collects into the Moorpark SOAR initiative and the effort to stop the controversial Hidden Creek Ranch residential project.

He said he is doing that to counteract the amount of money being put into efforts on the other side of the table. A political action committee funded by the developer of the 3,221-home project reported spending more than $110,000 on a campaign favoring Measure F.