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Pager
J udge N ot . ..
Oregon Gtizens Alliance summoned to court
by Jo n ath an Kipp
lawsuit will be filed next
week accusing the Ore
gon Citizens Alliance,
sponsor of the anti-gay
Measure 9, of making
fraudulent transfers of money, according
to Portland attorney Brent Foster.
The new legal trouble for the conser
vative Christian organization stems
from a judgment handed down by a
Multnomah County court in the early
1990s. Catherine Stauffer, a free-lance
photographer and contributor to Just
Out, sued Scott Lively, executive direc
tor Lon Mahon’s right-hand man, and
the O C A Educational Foundation.
She accused him of assaulting her in
1991, and a jury awarded her more than
$31,000. An appeals court later upheld
the ruling.
Although Lively recently started
making good on his debt when he dis
covered he couldn’t practice law in the
state of California with the judgment
hanging over his head, the O C A never
paid its portion— more than $17,000.
The organization claims the education
al foundation— its central entity— is
broke.
But Stauffer’s attorneys, Foster and The Oregon Citizens Alliance owes free-lance
Thane Tienson, say more than $1 mil- photographer Catherine Stauffer more than $ 1 7 ,0 0 0
lion has passed through the O C A ’s bank
account since the judgment. They allege that as
money came in, Mahon’s wife, Bonnie, quickly
would transfer it to other accounts, donate funds
to other organizations (like Exodus Internation
al, which works to “reform” homosexuals) and
pay bills— many of which were payments to
their own company, BJM Technical Support.
“There is no question the O C A has trans
ferred funds through the educational foundation
to other entities,” Foster said. These entities, he
added, put the money out of reach to satisfy
Stauffer’s judgment.
This is illegal, Foster explained. Oregon law
prohibits fraudulent transfer of funds in an
attempt to avoid creditors.
Tire Mahons spent a portion of two days in
recent weeks at the Multnomah County Court
house testifying under oath during a judgment
debtor examination. The hearing was conduct
ed to review the O C A ’s financial records.
Earlier, Stauffer’s attorneys got a restraining
order from the court prohibiting the organiza
tion from transferring or using any assets of the
educational foundation that should he used to
satisfy her outstanding judgment. Just Out and
representatives from two other media outlets
gained access to the hearings against the wishes
of the Mahons and their attorney.
At the Sept. 20 court appearance, the lawyer
repeatedly advised his clients not to answer
questions posed by Foster and Tienson. Lon
Mahon did testify that he knew little about the
financial goings-on at his headquarters.
He said Bonnie, who is the treasurer of
almost 10 OCA-relatcd organizations, is in
charge of such matters. Mahon said he doesn’t
know who owns the car he drives or how much
the couple pay in rent for their apartment.
They live at the O C A headquarters, located
in Brooks near Salem, and run their business out
of the same location. Two weeks later, Bonnie
Mabon testified that the couple pay no rent
because they are considered “caretakers” of the
property.
They said they have not taken salaries from
the O C A in years— he since 1992 or 1993, she
since 1996. They support themselves by running
a mailing business started around 1996.
Their customers? T he O C A family of orga
nizations.
Foster said issues about conflict of interest
are pervasive throughout the O C A ’s organiza
tions. The Mabons claim they, and the current
O C A organizations, are not liable for the debt
owed to Stauffer because the educational foun
dation has no money and no assets.
Stauffer’s attorneys asked Lon Mabon if he
ever had thought about paying the judgment.
His attorney advised him not to answer.
A t the O ct. 2 hearing, the atmosphere was
markedly different. T he Mabons’ once-aggres-
sive attorney objected to few questions posed to
his clients; in fact, he read the N ew York Times
throughout much of the testimony.
Bonnie Mabon testified that she has been
returning checks made out to the educational
foundation since the court froze the account.
She testified that she did not know how much
money was returned and denied keeping any
record of the attempted donations.
The checks in question were returned with
letters explaining that the donations couldn’t he
accepted, she testified. T he correspondence, the
Mahons admit, was written on Yes on 9 letter
head— a new entity they insist has no legal con
nection to the educational foundation.
Foster and Tienson think the couple violated
the restraining order on the account by return
ing the funds. The lawyers plan to argue to Cir
cuit Court Judge Ellen Rosenblum that the
Mabons he found in contempt of court.
“It’s clear the restraining order on the educa
tional foundation’s funds was violated,” Foster
said. “The O C A again thumbed its nose at the
court.”
At the center of the fraud charge is a dona
tion made by longtime supporter Opal Van
Kommer last February. She wrote a check to the
O C A ’s Trust Fidelity Investments— an account
PH OTO BY ANN CHEN
St. Stephen's Episcopal