Bob Hope Mends $56,000 Worth of Fences With Agoura Schools

Educators in Agoura have resolved their beef over comedian Bob Hope’s cows.

The entertainer has paid the Oak Park Unified School District $56,000 to cover damage to fences and landscaping from cattle that repeatedly wandered from his nearby ranch and trampled school grounds over a four-year period.

In return, Board of Education members voted unanimously Tuesday night to drop a $125,000 lawsuit they filed last year against Hope and his ranch hands.

Officials voted after learning that the cows have steered clear of school property for more than a year.

“Maybe that’s because all that’s left is the weeds the cows left behind,” Oak Park Supt. Dan Thompson said Wednesday. “All that tender, young alta fescue grass they liked so much is gone.”

Grass Was Greener

School officials had charged that cows from Hope’s 2,329-acre Jordan Ranch 10 miles west of the San Fernando Valley visited the high school campus more than 100 times to graze on lush lawns and football-field turf.

Officials said the animals frightened children, squashed sprinkler heads and left a trail of deep hoof prints and manure on the 40-acre campus.

“When a 2,000-pound cow spreads that weight on four little hoofs, that causes compaction to a lawn like you wouldn’t believe,” Thompson said. “Besides that, cows have this device for depositing weed seed. And that seed comes with its very own fertilizer.”

But placing the blame on Hope’s cows was a bum steer, according to Cliff Holmes, operator of Hope’s ranch. Holmes leases the property, which is named after its former owner, “Fibber McGee and Molly” radio star Jim Jordan.

No Closet Rancher

“My cattle were always fenced in. The only time they got out was when people cut the fence,” the 87-year-old Holmes said Wednesday.

Thompson acknowledged that cows from other ranches have occasionally turned up in the Oak Park community--including one small herd that was observed last weekend trotting down Smoketree Avenue near the high school grounds.

But, he said, school staff members chased cows from the campus to Hope’s ranch many times. “I was led to believe that Bob Hope wanted this case settled,” Thompson said.

School officials, however, said they were told by Hope’s lawyer that the entertainer was not stampeded into paying up.

They said that the ranch’s insurance covers the settlement and that Hope’s attorney, Payson Wolff, had commented that the comedian may not even have been aware of the lawsuit.