Arizona pickleball politics leached into the San Luis Obispo Superior Court through twin defamation lawsuits aimed at CalCoastNews owner Karen Velie and an alleged faulty news source.
“The statements made were intended to and actually did expose Jody Bernat to hatred, contempt, shunning from the Grand Pickleball Club and elsewhere in Arizona pickleball circles as well as social circles in [SLO], in addition to other reputational injuries,” a Feb. 14 complaint against Velie said. “Said actions were further a substantial factor in causing harm to Jody Bernat’s businesses and business development.”
Plaintiff Bernat is the ex-wife of real estate and land use attorney John Belsher, who was associated with disgraced former PB Companies executive Ryan Wright in an $3.6 million fraud ruling.
She filed two lawsuits against Velie and her Arizona neighbor Steve Cable based on statements both parties made in a December 2024 CalCoastNews article titled “Is San Luis Obispo attorney John Belsher using an alias?”
Velie wrote that Bernat and Belsher moved to Surprise, Arizona, soon after a SLO judge ordered him and Wright to pay $3.6 million in the fraud case. Calling the legally separated Bernat and Belsher “the Belshers,” Velie’s story also said that Cable told CalCoastNews that the pair introduced themselves as a married couple named Jody Bernat and Jon Bailey. The article stated that Bernat and Belsher signed up for pickleball events using those names.
CalCoastNews later added a correction to the top of the story.
“Correction: Jodi [sic] Belsher legally changed her name to Jody Bernat after moving to Arizona, according to John Belsher,” the note said.
In 2017, Velie and reporter Dan Blackburn answered for a 2012 article in a weeklong trial that ultimately found the website guilty of libel, which is a form of defamation. A jury found that Velie and Blackburn made false accusations in the story about local waste management businesses owner Charles Tenborg.
Belsher, who represents Bernat in the litigation, told New Times he hopes for “retractions, apologies, and damages.” Each complaint asked for $70,000 in damages and to cover the cost of suits.
The complaints noted that Bernat changed her last name from Belsher because she was stalked and physically confronted by a person allegedly known to have unregistered weapons. A judge in Maricopa County Superior Court granted the name change request in October 2024. She then used the name Bernat in her Grand Pickleball Club interactions.
“This impact and injury was intended by Steve Cable as he sought to drive Jody Bernat from the Grand Pickleball Club where Steve Cable thinks of and presents himself as some kind of expert-player and the organizer of many club gatherings among players,” the complaint said. “Steve Cable admitted to Jody in a January 2025 in-person conversation, that he considered Jody Bernat and her husband to be ‘criminals on the run, hiding from the law and using aliases.'”
Bernat alleged that Cable’s comments to Velie and her subsequent publication of his statements compelled her to “abandon” a software business named TreasureSave. Velie’s article allegedly also affected the marketing and sale of movies and books produced by Bernat.
Prior to filing the lawsuits, Belsher sent Velie a letter in January asking for a retration of her article and a printed apology within 10 days.
“At one point Jody offered to give you our side of things, but you told her, ‘No thanks, I have all the information I need,'” Belsher wrote in the letter. “In the case of the Dec. 30, 2024, article, you failed to pick up the phone and inquire as to the truth of the claims you published.”
He sent a similar letter to Cable, too, but the complaint said the neighbor didn’t provide an apology or retraction. Neither Velie nor Cable responded to New Times’ requests for comment by press time.
Belsher’s letter to Velie also clarified his use of the name Jon Bailey in Arizona.
“While not relevant to this accusation of defamatory action, I have used my legal name for all matters other than some pickleball events, where we used my nickname in order to keep Jody’s name private (officially sealed with the court for protection),” he wrote.
Case management conferences for both lawsuits are scheduled for June and July in SLO Superior Court. Δ
Correction: This story was updated to correct the judgement amount in the Belsher Wright case.
This article appears in Mar 13-23, 2025.
Karma.
John and Jody belsher or “bernat” are the absolute scum of the earth. They are the embodiment of pathological narcissism and seem to be deathly allergic to being held accountable for being horrible human beings. Don’t give those dirt bags a single dime.
John and Jody belsher or whatever alias they choose to use now are the absolute scum of the earth and the embodiment pathological narcissism. They should be exposed wherever they go for what they have done and like all narcissists, they are deathly allergic to being held accountable. Don’t give them a dime.
All you need to know about Karen Velie and Cal Coast News http://www.centralcoastclarion.weebly.com