Politics & Government

Judge Throws Out Barella Complaint in Tentative Ruling

Argues that North Bay Construction founder will not be adversely affected by counsel, unlike the residents' group which will not be able to find another pro-bono attorney

A Sonoma County judge has denied a motion by North Bay Construction founder John Barella that was aimed at dismissing the attorney for opponents of the Roblar Road Quarry project.

Barella had arguing that having the attorney represent the group of residents posed a conflict of interest because the attorney's firm has represented Basin Street Properties, a real estate development company in which Barella is the largest investor.

In a tentative ruling Tuesday, Sonoma County Superior Court Judget Elliot Lee Daum ruled that Barella was never a client of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, the firm whose lawyer is representing Citizens Advocating for Roblar Road Quality, a group of about 200 residents who would be most affected by the quarry.

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Daum ruled that "even if Mr. Barella gave personal confidential information to a partner of the firm in January of 2009, such information was not related to the dispute in this case." He went on to say that Barella "will suffer no harm if this motion is denied, but the petitioner (CARRQ) will suffer harm if this motion is granted because it is unlikely that it will find another law firm to take its case on a pro bono basis."

The Roblar Road Quarry project was approved last December in a complicated land swap that traded 105 acres of farm land for a preserve to protect an endangered amphibian species. Many continue to oppose the project because of traffic from trucks hauling rock from the quarry as well as the dangerous precedent the decision sets, since voters passed a measure to protect the land "into perpetuity."

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Barella, who also sits on the board of Basin Street Properties and has loaned nearly $100 million of his own money to the developer, plans to appeal the decision. Arguments it will be heard on Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at 3:00 p.m. in Department 16.


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