COUNTY MAKES CASE AGAINST POINT ARENA PARROT FARMERS

By Julie Verran

The Independant Coast Observer - 4/27/01

The Point Arena parrot farmers will be in court again Friday in Ukiah.

The county filed three suits against Barbara and Geoffrey Gould early last year to force them off their land in Point Arena. The county's case for dismissal of the Gould's counter suit is outlined in a 51 page series of documents filed with the court in March.

The brief was written by Irven Grant, who has since taken employment in Monterey County. His main contention is that the misconduct by county officials alleged by the Goulds' attorneys was part of their jobs, and that allowing the counter suit to proceed would have a chilling effect on the county's right to debate public issues.

The county claims that the Gould's action is a SLAPP suit, or Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, intended to damage First Amendment free speech rights. Grant holds that a government entity is a person under the anti-SLAPP law, and cites a l996 case.

It is unusual for a government entity to claim that citizens are taking a SLAPP action; the Goulds attorneys wrote in their response to this brief of Grants that the county's actions amount to a SLAPP. The anti-SLAPP law is usually used to protect the public from suits brought for things they say at public hearings.

Grant writes that the Goulds did not do enough negotiating with the county, or get clarifications of zoning requirements in writing, before they moved their bird breeding operation here from Arizona.

"They represent that their parrots are worth thousands of dollars and represent years of research. Yet, without taking any of the above safeguards or clarifying the (Planing and Building Department's) position, they with thrice speed pitched their tent on coastal land. Cross complainants (the Goulds) are not unlike the folklore characters who light a bomb and then stand around the corer with hands over their ears waiting for an explosion", wrote Grant as part of the conclusion to this brief.

Last August Judge Conrad Cox, since retired, issued an opinion criticizing parts of the Gould's cross complaint and allowing their attorneys time to resubmit it. Grant holds that their response is inadequate and does not follow the judge's instructions.

Chief Planner Alan Falleri provides a written declaration that his actions and those of other planners were routine and that they exercised care and consideration for the Goulds.