Effort to Oust Councilman : Moorpark Group Revises Ferguson Recall Petition

Supporters of a campaign to oust Moorpark Councilman Thomas C. (Bud) Ferguson submitted a revised recall petition to city officials Tuesday after two earlier versions were rejected for failing to comply with the state Elections Code.

The latest version of the recall petition against Ferguson, whom critics have charged with “questionable conduct” as a councilman, is expected to be approved for circulation among the city’s 7,361 registered voters later this week, Moorpark City Clerk Maureen Wall said.

Once the petition is approved, recall organizers will have 90 days to collect the signatures of 25% of the city’s registered voters to require City Council to set a recall election, Wall said.

Wall said she returned the group’s first petition two weeks ago because parts of the original recall notice had been rewritten, and a word in the rebuttal submitted by Ferguson had been changed. The recall arguments on the petition cannot be changed from those originally submitted in the recall notice to the city, she said.

Recall organizers said a typographical error was made in Ferguson’s written rebuttal, which must by law appear on each recall petition.

A second petition was rejected on Monday because a space on the form that was supposed to be blank had a line through it, Wall said.

Although Wall has 10 days to approve or reject the latest petition, she said she expects to finish reviewing it by Friday.

Patti Smith, a recall organizer, said she expects to have about 30 volunteers collecting signatures door to door, at neighborhood meetings and at local shopping areas once the petition is approved. “I think we’ll have plenty of time to get the signatures,” she said.

Ferguson has been under fire since January, when former Councilman Danny Woolard began making public accusations of political corruption.

Vote-Buying Alleged

Woolard, who is serving a six-month prison term for embezzling $5,500 in post office funds, alleged that Ferguson arranged a bribe and thousands of dollars in loans over the last two years to influence Woolard’s vote on the five-member City Council.

Ferguson has denied all Woolard’s allegations. He has said that he will not step down from the council unless convicted of a crime or recalled.

The Ventura County district attorney’s office is investigating allegations of misconduct and corruption among Moorpark officials. The investigation is expected to be finished by May 10, Deputy Dist. Atty. Thomas J. Hutchins said Tuesday.

Last month, Ferguson resigned as mayor after he acknowledged making racist remarks to a local newspaper. He later apologized for the remarks, but at the urging of his council colleagues he agreed to turn over the mayor’s position, which is largely honorary, to Councilman Clint Harper.