A Lincoln County circuit judge has awarded $3,615 to a May primary county commission candidate against a Newport radio station which he says did not run his advertisements and therefore hurt his campaign.
Presiding Judge Sheryl Bachart put a judgement lien on the property of KSHL and its owners Leslie Brown and Stephanie Linn after months of them avoiding service of court documents.
In his complaint, Don Gomez of Newport says he paid $450 for radio station KSHL and The WAVE to run his political ads from May 7-21 but said they did not run as promised. Gomez filed a small claims notice seeking the $450 back but an additional $2,988 “for the impact on my political campaign …” Bachart also awarded Gomez $188 in court fees.
Gomez, who moved to Newport two years ago from California to open a book publishing business, came in fourth in the five-way primary with 1,811 votes.
Brown denied Gomez’ claim in June and asked for a hearing. But court files show that Gomez, sheriff’s deputies and registered mail were unsuccessful in getting Brown or Linn to respond and no one was ever at the station’s business address.
Bachart made her ruling Dec. 5.
