Council Gadfly Arrested Over Phone Call

SANTA CLARITA —  A political gadfly who recently sued the city, accusing officials of violating his civil rights, was arrested this week after allegedly threatening a city councilwoman, sheriff’s deputies said Friday.

John Steffen, 71, left threatening messages on Councilwoman Jill Klajic’s answering machine in which he warned the councilwoman to call him before he “got a gun,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Det. John Bomben.

According to Bomben, Steffen followed that statement with the words, “or then again maybe not.”

Klajic brought the answering machine tape to the Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Station at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, and Steffen was arrested early Thursday when deputies found him sleeping in his truck outside his Saugus home.

On Friday, Steffen remained at Twin Towers Jail in Los Angeles, where he was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Newhall Municipal Court on charges of making threats against a public official, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney said.

Ed Dunn, a longtime friend of Steffen’s who spoke to him in jail, said that Steffen insisted that his arrest was the result of a misunderstanding. Dunn said that Steffen was angry because he believed sheriff’s deputies were harassing him by frequently patrolling in front of his home.

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“He obviously wasn’t going to go after Jill Klajic. He considers her a good friend,” Dunn said. “He said he mentioned the gun not to threaten Jill but because he was talking about getting one for his own protection.” Steffen, who regularly attends council meetings, is well known in Santa Clarita for his strong opinions and often abrasive commentary about council members and their decisions.

During the April 21 council meeting, he was removed from the public speaker’s podium by a sheriff’s deputy at the request of Mayor Jan Heidt when he refused to stop verbally attacking council members.

As a result of that action, Steffen sued the city for allegedly violating his constitutional rights of free speech, due process and equal protection under the law.

In July, Steffen settled with the city out of court. As part of that settlement, the city agreed to adhere to a formal policy that guarantees citizens the right to speak without interruption for three minutes without regard to content “as long as there is no objective disturbance of the meeting.”

At the time, Steffen said, “If they would have just let me speak for three minutes, it would have been no big thing.”

Klajic could not be reached for comment Friday.