Council hopeful’s past more than a snapshot

Andrew Glazer

COSTA MESA -- Of the potential candidates scurrying for a seat on

the City Council dais this November, one may be the most prepared for the

limelight and scrutiny that comes with the job.

Dan Worthington, a Mesa Verde photo studio owner, got more than his

share of fame when he refused to print a portrait of a gay couple in

their high school memory book 13 years ago.

That action triggered a lawsuit by the couple, who claimed he violated

their civil rights.

Stage actor David Engel of Los Angeles hired high-profile civil rights

attorney Gloria Allred, who also represented the Brown family during the

O.J. Simpson murder trial.

In court, Engel alleged Worthington told him he wouldn’t print the

couple “because I don’t approve of that lifestyle.” Worthington denied

the statement and said he had a policy against photographing same-sex

couples because they would be difficult to identify in the memory book,

which features portraits of alumni and their spouses.

“I have no problem with homosexuals,” Worthington said Thursday. He

said Allred made a big fuss over a non-issue.

“It was a trivial matter,” he said. “She tried to make it into

something gigantic and it didn’t work.”

After years of legal ping pong between Orange County Superior Court

and the California Supreme Court, a judge awarded David Engel $250 in

damages. The state Supreme Court also ruled Worthington is responsible

for paying Engel’s legal fees, which have been estimated at around

$125,000.

Worthington is still fighting Allred over the legal fees.

“I’m not going to give it up,” he said.

Worthington, a director for the Costa Mesa Sanitary District, said he

would run for City Council on a “trash for cash” platform.

He said the city’s method of collecting garbage from apartments and

commercial properties, by contracting several different hauling

companies, wastes up to $1 million annually. He proposes the city instead

contract just one company. He said haulers would offer competitive

franchise agreements with the city, as high as 10% of all annual profits,

for exclusive rights to the city’s commercial trash.