VALPARAISO | A Dec. 15 trial date has been set for a civil lawsuit charging former Porter County Clerk Dale Brewer with using the influence of her elected office as part of a failed attempt to stop the construction of a neighbor's home in Porter Beach.

Porter County Superior Court Judge Bill Alexa denied a request last week by Brewer and co-defendant Martin Dobrzynski to rule on the case in their favor.

Alexa scheduled a final pre-trial hearing for Dec. 5 and confirmed the trial date.

The legal action was initiated two years ago by Suzanne Schoenfelt, who claims Brewer and Dobrzynski waged a relentless and malicious effort to prevent her from building a home at 171 Bote Drive.

The effort, which began shortly after Schoenfelt obtained a building permit in the summer of 2003, began with numerous failed attempts to derail the home project at the town level and later was carried into the courts by Brewer and Dobrzynski, according to the lawsuit.

The suit accuses Brewer and Dobrzynski of abusing the system by pursuing the challenge maliciously and without just cause.

It also singles out Brewer for using the power of her former county post "in an attempt to persuade and intimidate others" to stop Schoenfelt's building project.

Brewer, a Republican, served eight years as the county's elected clerk until her term expired in January. She lost a bid Tuesday to Democrat Mike Bucko to return to elected office as county treasurer and had made a failed bid in 2006 for state senate.

Attorneys in the case could not be reached for comment, but Brewer and Dobrzynski argued in their recent motion to avoid a trial that they had only questioned whether the building project violated town building codes and county septic regulations.

The two further argued they properly pursued their concerns through the administrative and judicial systems and "had no ulterior motive."