Ex-Councilwoman Arrested After Ejection From Meeting

Hawaiian Gardens police arrested a former city councilwoman Tuesday night after she was ejected from a council meeting but refused to leave.

Kathleen Navejas, a five-time former mayor who lost her council seat during a bitter recall election last month, had been talking out of turn and laughing with a friend near the front of the council chambers, city officials said.

“They were talking and giggling and laughing and we couldn’t conduct our meeting,” said Councilman Ralph Cesena, who replaced Navejas in December’s recall election. “They’d been warned two or three times.”

Shortly before the meeting’s conclusion about 10:30 p.m., Mayor Lupe Cabrera ordered Navejas and her friend, Mary Corrales, out of the chambers, city officials said. Corrales left, but Navejas refused.

Police Chief Walter McKinney, who made the arrest, did not return messages left with his office Wednesday. The mayor was out of town most of the day and could not be reached for comment.

Navejas said she received a citation, which she plans to fight in court when she is scheduled to appear before a judge in early March.

“It’s a freedom of speech issue,” Navejas said. Some members of the audience were allowed to speak at the podium several times, she said, while others were denied.

Navejas added that her outbursts were nothing more than a show of support for her former council ally, Rene Flores. Besides, she said, such displays are to be expected at City Council meetings.

“It’s typical politics in Hawaiian Gardens,” Navejas said.

Fredric Woocher, who is representing Navejas in her bid to stop a voter-approved card club in the city, agreed: “People are shouting all the time in those meetings.”

But City Clerk Domenic Ruggeri said Navejas had been given several opportunities during the meeting to speak during periods of public comment. When it was the council’s turn, he said, she wouldn’t stop.

“She had chances to talk,” Ruggeri said.