LAGUNA NIGUEL : Closed-Door Session to Plot Suit Strategy

The City Council will meet in a special closed session Tuesday to review an Orange County Grand Jury report that criticized city officials and others for their part in a controversial 1988 land transaction.

“We’re going to go over the recommendations of the grand jury and see how they may affect our pending litigation,” Mayor Patricia C. Bates said. “We want to talk with our staff and make sure all the procedures are being followed correctly.”

The grand jury report, which was released last week, accused Laguna Niguel public officials of mishandling a land transaction that resulted in 96 acres of parkland being transferred to Taylor Woodrow Homes California Ltd.

According to the grand jury, members of the Laguna Niguel Community Services District, which managed some affairs in that community before it became a city, were lax in their procedures for dealing with the transaction. The district board also received bad advice and information from its staff, the grand jury said.

The company, which says the transfer was authorized by the county, had begun building homes on that property before the Laguna Niguel City Council ordered a building moratorium last year. The City Council then sued Taylor Woodrow, which responded by suing the city.

As part of that litigation, Taylor Woodrow lawyers have summoned three members of the City Council--Bates, Councilman Paul M. Christiansen and Councilman James F. Krembas--for depositions. They will be questioned by Taylor Woodrow attorneys as early as next week, though Christiansen said he will move to have the session delayed.

“My primary objection is that the mayor and myself are being stampeded into this deposition,” Christiansen said. “I won’t be rushed into this process.”