Oliver responds to Roseville councilman's lawsuit

Roseville Councilman Scott Alvord announced Oct. 12 that he filed a defamation lawsuit against a local restaurant owner, Matthew Oliver, and a political blogger Aaron Park. Oliver owns House of Oliver in Roseville and Oliver's Brewhouse & Grill in Lincoln. Park manages RightOnDailyBlog.com and aaronfpark.com. Alvord is running for a Placer County supervisor seat and Oliver is running for a Rocklin City Council seat. Alvord's lawsuit lists claims for defamation, false light, unfair business practices and declaratory relief. He said that Oliver and Park made false statements in advertisements, websites and social media posts that Alvord forced vaccines and masks onto children during the pandemic. The two also made false claims, according to Alvord, that he is anti-small business. Gold Country Media reached out to Oliver and Park for comment. Park has yet to respond. Gold Country Media reached out to Oliver for comments about what Alvord said in his lawsuit on Oct. 12, Oct. 13 and Oct. 14 and he would not respond. Oliver's attorney, Chase Meister, said in an email to Gold Country Media on Oct. 13 that they wanted to withhold comment until the lawsuit is served. As of Monday the lawsuit had not been served, yet Oliver spoke a few days prior with ABC10 Sacramento and The Sacramento Bee. Oliver said to ABC10 on Oct. 14, "He's (Scott Alvord) running for Placer County Board of Supervisors. He's not doing well. He needs a headline, so he feels like I'm a headline. This is the way politicians try to use people. It's not OK." Oliver was quoted in the Sacramento Bee on Monday, "This looks like the desperate attempt from a politician to try to gain headlines the week the ballots are dropped." Gold Country Media talked to Oliver for a minute on the phone Monday to ask him about Alvord's lawsuit. Oliver told the reporter that he was not satisfied with the time allotted for him to respond before the initial Lincoln News Messenger article was published on Oct. 12. However, the reporter had asked Oliver to respond at any time so the article could be updated with his comments. Oliver accused the newspaper "of being for Scott Alvord" and hung up the phone.