Los Gatos will defend councilmembers in defamation lawsuit

The Los Gatos Town Council is standing behind two of its members accused of defaming a resident.

Three Los Gatos Town officials — Mayor Matthew Hudes and Councilmembers Rob Rennie and Mary Badame — voted unanimously Friday for the town to pay legal fees to defend Vice Mayor Rob Moore and Councilmember Maria Ristow in a defamation lawsuit by resident Lynley Kerr Hogan. Moore and Ristow recused themselves from the vote. In the complaint filed Jan. 10, Hogan alleges Moore and Ristow defamed her by falsely stating she threatened to kill someone at a council meeting.

The complaint alleges Ristow and Moore’s statements caused Hogan’s banishment from local political group Los Gatos Democracy Tent —whose co-founder, Lee Fagot, is also named in the suit. Hogan, who is representing herself, is seeking more than $35,000 plus punitive damages against the defendants for causing emotional distress. The councilmembers’ legal fees will come out of the town’s self-insured retention fund until costs exceed $50,000, at which point fees will be covered through the town’s liability insurance. The town will not compensate the councilmembers for losses or damages if they are found liable.

“I would like the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about me to come out and my name to be cleared,” Hogan told San José Spotlight.

Moore, Ristow and Fagot declined to comment since the case is ongoing.

Hogan’s complaint outlines multiple issues, including: “Compensatory damages according to proof; punitive damages as allowed by law; injunctive relief to prevent future defamation; and declaratory relief that Defendant’s defamed Plaintiff by making untrue statements of fact; emotional distress damages; and costs of this suit, against Defendants, Mr. Moore, Ms. Ristow and Mr. Fagot, together with such other and further relief as the Court and Jury may deem reasonable and just under the circumstances.“

Hudes referred San José Spotlight to the meeting minutes when asked for comment, but said the discussion wasn’t easy and took four meetings before councilmembers reached a consensus.

“It was a difficult decision,” Hudes said in a written statement. “Because this is pending litigation, the town cannot provide any further comments.”

Hogan initially filed the lawsuit last year listing Moore and Ristow as councilmembers, before filing a new lawsuit last month listing them as individuals.
Multiple Los Gatos residents spoke at the council meeting in favor of the town defending the councilmembers, with about 30 people submitting additional written statements supporting the defense.

Resident Karen Rubio, who’s lived in Los Gatos for about 40 years, said the councilmembers shouldn’t have to worry about lawsuits because a resident disagrees with what they say.

Rubio said in the best-case scenario, Hogan drops the lawsuit — but Rubio said she’d accept the court dismissing the lawsuit and declaring it without merit.

“What we do at a local level is extremely important,” Rubio told San José Spotlight. “I think we’re seeing that around the country, people are standing up to intimidation and hate. For me, I consider it money well spent.”

The town will file answers to Hogan’s legal complaint in the coming days.

Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X.