Remember the Irvine resident whose nonstop verbal barrage last month forced a homeowners association to back down moments before its crews were to rip out his beloved but unauthorized flowering bushes?

A month later, the plants are still in the ground (“Thriving!” boasts resident Al Schwartz), but the HOA is still pursuing removal. And it is now tagging the home with another aesthetic sin: Bad paint.

Brief recap: The dispute in the Vista Filare tract started when Schwartz and his housemate (and legal homeowner), Linda Lester, objected to the way the HOA wanted to trim a front yard tree. In response, the HOA just ripped out the tree – and all the plants Schwartz had installed. Schwartz is an amateur gardener, and he favors drought-tolerant species that send out colorful blooms.

The HOA covenants generally give it control of landscaping, but they don’t specify permitted or banned plants, a flaw that Schwartz says results in arbitrary enforcement in the 268-home neighborhood. My column and video of the June 11 shout-down drew spirited online commentary that illustrated the tension between the rights of the individual versus those of the collective in the master-planned, cough, paradise that is Irvine.

The present: The HOA held a closed board meeting June 28 at which the board agreed to try to resolve the landscape issue through mediation before commencing litigation.

But holding up mediation is the resurrection of an issue the two sides have clashed on before: Paint. The HOA ordered the exterior of the white, one-story house painted by June 30. Lester did not comply. She faces a violation hearing on that subject July 23. Presumably, she will be found in violation and a date will be set for mediation on both issues.

To prove the need for paint, the HOA sent out a Sherwin-Williams inspector. He found discoloration of the stucco and weathered wood fascia and trim. No surprise, he recommended painting. I was at the home. I must be candid. If I were the homeowner, I would think it needed paint. Lester, who has lived there since 1984, acknowledged she doesn’t remember it ever being painted.

But Schwartz says the covenants lack specificity as to what triggers mandatory painting and contends that a recent HOA dictate that homes must be painted every eight to 10 years is not enforceable. Whether he’s right, I don’t know, but he creates an issue that can be argued.

I asked Lester why she didn’t simply paint. If nothing else, it would be cheaper than her attorney. Lester, a retired lawyer who decided it wise not to be her own client, acknowledged that her attorney is “real freaking expensive” and that it would be cheaper to paint the house. She says she used to hate it when her own clients would say, “It’s not the money, it’s the principle,” to justify pursuing costly litigation, but now concedes that is the very reason she refuses to give in. “I’m tired of being bullied,” she says.

Caitlin Rother, who has covered several major O.C. murder trials, will be lecturing and signing copies of her latest book at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Book Carnival in Orange, 348 S. Tustin St. “Lost Girls” is the story of the murders of two San Diego County girls, Amber DuBois and Chelsea King, by John Albert Gardner, a convicted sex offender.

The launch of “Lost Girls” in San Diego on July 5 drew protests from, among others, the parents of DuBois and King, who claim Rother is exploiting their daughters’ deaths. There have been hecklers at other San Diego County signings, and some commentators on Amazon have been harsh.

I suspect many protestors haven’t read the book. I have. It focuses heavily on the psychopathology of Gardner and it is sparse on the details of the killings themselves. I know Rother knew more about the gruesome elements than she printed. If she was going for exploitive, lurid tale, she could have told one. Instead, the takeaway is more about how a monster like Gardner was able to operate.

I find it noteworthy that members of Tom and Jackie Hawks‘ family attended her book-signing on Wednesday. Rother wrote about their murders of the coast of Newport Beach in her 2011 book, “Dead Reckoning.”

Mickadeit writes Mon.-Fri. Contact him at 714-796-4994 or fmickadeit@ocregister.com