SUN VILLAGE – Though his defamation claim against the Sun Village Town Council president was dismissed last Monday, the board’s chaplain promises to continue with plenty more legal action against the council for allegedly misrepresenting itself to the community.
Kirk Collins, who considers himself a “councilman of the community,” contacted the Civic Bee last week to update readers on the board’s most recent legal developments.
His defamation of character lawsuit was also in reaction to Lawrence “filing a fabricated restraining order against me to prevent me from attending meetings and standing up for what is right and in the best interest of the community,” Collins told the Bee in an email. “She slandered my name to bring about ill will against me, and caused the facilitation of a generated hate crime to develop with [fellow] board members.”
Unfortunately for Collins, the judge ruled against him on Monday, deciding that the board’s comments against him were fair game because he was considered a “political figure” in the community.
“Anybody can do that,” Collins told the Bee over the phone after Monday’s court date. “That’s a priviledge that we all have. And I let the judge know that I did not expect to come out with a winning hand today.”
However, Collins said the judge did help to clear up one murky issue regarding the legitimacy of the Sun Village Town Council: “The judge did agree with me on one matter, saying that it’s not really a council.”
He said he filed the case against Lawrence on April 23, after Lawrence and fellow members of the council “tried to slander me the earlier part of this year because at a council meeting I mentioned this is an illegal board … and that this was not what the community is looking for in a council.” Collins said it only went downhill from there, sparking a smear campaign against him led by Lawrence that resulted in “hate mail against me behind an operation to defame me.”
But despite the ruling against his defamation case, Collins anticipates that the president of the Sun Village Town Council will finally be held accountable – if not in the community, then in court.
“There will be an update after Aug. 19, 2014, as to what the Superior Court will do in regards to Magdalene’s contempt of court for not acknowledging a summons and complaint against her and the illegal board,” he said. “She was served by the Sheriff’s department, and she ignored it. And then in court, I served her the case management so we can work things out before it gets to the court, and she refused to accept that.”
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Now Collins’ greatest contention against the board, which in all fairness includes himself as a member, is that most of the town council is illegally seated.
According to Collins, Lawrence was originally elected as a councilwoman and held the position as secretary when Eugene Washington was president. She then moved up to her current position as president through succession, he said.
“Magdalene Lawrence acted as vice president and went out around Mr. Washington and selected individuals such as myself who was involved in the operations of the business for the community,” Collins explained. “She had no authority to pick anyone to hold offices and said Norm Hickling [field deputy for Supervisor Michael Antonovich] gave her permission to do so, even without the presiding president’s permission. After speaking with Norm Hickling on various occasions, he stated he never told her any such thing.”
Collins said Lawrence “had no right to pick anyone for positions,” which include himself for chaplain, but also Lawrence’s own daughter, Gim, for assistant treasurer – a position that does not exist on the board, he said.
“I believed I was sworn in by Norm Hickling as a councilman and chaplain for the Sun Village community only to find out that it was not a legal position nor are any of the individuals legal officers outside of Magdalene Lawrence and Iris Rozier.”
He told the Bee that the current board has not acted in the community’s best interest – unlike former president Washington, who helped install Sun Village highway signs throughout the Antelope Valley and pave many dirt roads in their community.
Instead, Collins claims that the current president “has violated the community’s trust with funds she refused to turn over to the elected treasurer, Iris Rozier.” He notes that several functions have taken placed at Lawrence’s house that were represented in the name of the Sun Village Council, “which were in fact not Sun Village Council events, but lead the community to believe they were in order to get money.”
Collins has more dirt on the desert council, saying that the Sun Village bank account “was overdrawn by Gim Lawrence and Bernadette Moore who was appointed as secretary by Ms. Magdalene Lawrence illegally. They were willing to let a 22-year-old account with standing integrity go into default with no remorse. Fortunately, members of the community and some outside the community saved the account, because it would have ruined the reputation of Sun Village for future business. Magdalene stood by and watched her daughter destroy the good name of Sun Village based on illegal functions and falsifying information on behalf of the Sun Village Community.”
According to Collins, the questionable fundraising activities have not stopped, and this, too, will have its day in court.
“A litigation is in motion at the Los Angeles Superior Court in Los Angeles County for the money that has been misappropriated by Magdalene Lawrence, Gim Lawrence, and Bernadette Moore, as well as Whitney Franklin who was seen collecting money at the Cajun Festival in 2013, which was a function that was said to be put on by the Sun Village Town Council, but no money was in fact turned over to the elected treasurer, Iris Rozier,” Collins told the Bee in an email. “This is a matter that will most likely reach the County Controller and the Attorney General because of the magnitude of the issue involving community fraud.”
Though he described the board’s alleged misrepresentation as “a sad day in Sun Village,” Collins is optimistic that the community will rally together to straighten out the board’s behavior.
“Too many homeowners do not want to see the community going downhill for personal boogie-woogie backyard parties that have nothing to do with the bettering of the community,” he said. “As for the community, please stand up for what is right and how you want to see your community. All of the ugly signs that are falling over and not maintained need to be cleaned and looking presentable. We all must pull together in this crisis to see that those who worked hard the past 22 years do not go down in vain.”
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Members of the Sun Village Town Council are encouraged to contact the Civic Bee editor to represent their side of any issue raised in this article. Interested parties may contact the editor via email at [email protected].
Members of the public may attempt to reach the Sun Village Town Council by phone at 1-800-992-5254 or by email at [email protected].
