VENTURA : City, Councilman End Carport Dispute

Councilman John McWherter resolved a lawsuit with the city of Ventura over a portion of a carport that the councilman unknowingly built on city property.

On Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Edwin Osborne ruled that McWherter could buy the city land underneath the carport and adjoining slope for $5,000, the councilman said.

“I’m glad it’s all over,” McWherter said after being told that the court had put an end to his sticky, 3-year-old dilemma.

Under state law, elected officials cannot enter into contracts with the cities they represent. So McWherter was barred from buying the carport property from the city without a favorable court decision.

McWherter discovered that his carport was on city property in October, 1987, when a city crew surveying nearby property found that land maps had been improperly drawn.

Faced with the option of either resigning from the council or tearing down his carport, the 17-year council veteran came up with a better idea: he asked the city to sue him over the rights on the carport property. On Tuesday, McWherter said the judge decided that “state law does not apply on a case like mine. Thank goodness.”