CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A judge has granted Clearlake’s vice mayor a restraining order against a community member who has increasingly harassed her and her family.
On Friday morning, retired Lake County Superior Court Judge Robert Crone ordered Clearlake resident Estella Creel to stay away from Jeri Spittler, her family, home and business for the next two years.
Crone, however, was mindful of the challenges with such orders in small communities, and wrote the order to allow Creel – a regular attendee at Clearlake City Council meetings – to continue to attend council meetings as long as she leaves Spittler alone.
Clearlake City Manager Joan Phillipe told Lake County News that the city will review the order when it receives a copy next week and decide what actions, if any, it needs to take.
Phillipe said it’s a unique situation, and to her knowledge no other city staff or council members have been harassed or threatened by Creel.
Spittler is halfway through her first term on the Clearlake City Council. She was elected in November 2010 and took office the following month.
Spittler said that Creel has become increasingly threatening toward her and her family, driving by her business and home and yelling insults, and telling Spittler to “go to hell” as she is leaving city hall after council meetings.
The situation has continued to escalate and came to a head last month when Spittler filed a temporary restraining order application with the court after an incident at her salon, Girlfriends, which is located at 14510 Lakeshore Drive, in the same building as her residence.
On Oct. 11, Spittler said an upset Creel brought a stray dog she had found and let it loose in the salon, angry that the city’s animal control officer had not shown up to her home to collect the animal.
Creel, who denied harassing Spittler, testified on Friday that she took the dog to Spittler’s business after repeated requests to the city to pick up the animal. She said she was told the kennels were full and she was asked to keep the dog, which she said was difficult for her to do because she already has three dogs of her own.
As Spittler would note in court on Friday, she sand Creel had “completely different” views of what took place.
Spittler said Creel came to the salon and asked Spittler’s daughter-in-law, who was standing outside, if she was there.
When Creel came in with the dog, Spittler said she told her the dog couldn’t come into the salon. At the same time, Spittler’s grandchild was in a bouncy chair on the floor.
She said Creel replied, “You want dogs in the park, now you’ve got one,” and let go of a 5-foot-long rope she was using as a leash.
Spittler said the dog, which was large in size, ran through the salon and into her residence, and was cowering.
“He was a really sweet dog and that made me feel really bad, too,” Spittler said.
The dog was friendly, and after the initial introduction, later sat outside on a bench, eating potato chips Spittler and her family offered it. Thanks to the dog being microchipped, city animal control officials were able to locate its owners the next day.
Spittler filed the temporary restraining request several days later and a hearing was held in October. She said she tried to mediate, but a mediator told her that Creel saw nothing wrong with what she did and that mediating would not work.
Limits to intrusions of an official’s privacy
On Friday, Creel called Clearlake resident Bill Shields as a character witness. When she asked him if it was in her character to take a dog and let it run through someone’s residence or business, Shields replied by asking if the rope had pulled out of her hands or if she had released the dog. Crone interrupted, telling him he needed to answer the question, not make a statement.
When Spittler asked Shields if he was present for Creel bringing the dog to her business, he said he was not. She asked him if he knew her as an honest person and he said yes. Creel then asked Shields if Spittler was being honest in this particular situation. Crone said it was an improper question.
Creel also took the stand to give her side of the story, which differed from Spittler’s.
In particular, she put the event with the dog as having taken place on Oct. 10.
After she said animal control told her the kennel was full, Creel said she decided to go to Spittler. “Jeri is always saying she’s got an open door policy.”
Creel appeared to give contradictory evidence, at first saying Spittler’s grandchild was not there and later mentioning the child was there.
She said Spittler greeted her, noting she hadn’t been in the salon in over two years. Creel said the rope she was using to hold the dog pulled from her hand and the dog ran around behind Spittler’s manicure chair. “That's as far as this dog got.”
Creel said she told Spittler, “You wanted the job, you got the job, now do the job,” relating to her position on the council.
She said all she wanted to do was get the dog back to where it belonged. “Jeri helped that along because it was home the next day,” Creel said.
Spittler told the court, “My reason for being here is I want my family to feel safe at all times.” She said she also wanted it clearly understood that Creel’s behavior was not normal or safe.
Creel denied harassing Spittler. “I don’t meant to cause her family any harm,” Creel said during her closing statements.
Crone said the court had to decide if there was clear and convincing evidence of harassment. Such evidence could include just one incident or several. He also needed to determine if there was the likelihood of some kind of future harassment.
“Here it seems to the court there is a course of harassment,” Crone said, referencing the incident with the dog, and Creel driving by and yelling at Spittler’s home and business.
Crone noted that Spittler is a public official. “At times people do shout at meetings at public officials.”
However, he said there are limits, especially as it relates to a person’s private life, business and family.
Elected officials sacrifice some privacy, “but not all of it,” said Crone.
Crone issued the limited restraining order, telling Creel she can’t engage in any type of harassing conduct of Spittler, her family and her customers.
“Your honor, I do not really pose a threat to this woman or her family,” Creel said.
“I’ve made the order,” said Crone, who spent a few minutes working over the details.
Spittler said she just wanted the situation to end.
Phillipe said that if there are any violations of the order at the Clearlake City Council meetings, they will be handled by Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen.
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