Councilman Deposed in Moorpark May Run

A former Moorpark councilman who was overwhelmingly defeated in a recall election last year after being dogged for months by political controversy and allegations of bribery may try to return to the council in November’s election.

Thomas C. (Bud) Ferguson, 68, took out nomination papers Wednesday, signaling a possible bid for one of three City Council seats that will be contested in the Nov. 8 election, City Clerk Maureen Wall said. The deadline for filing nomination papers is Aug. 12.

Ferguson was unavailable for comment Friday.

Ferguson, who was first elected to the City Council in 1984, was accused early last year by former City Councilman Danny Woolard of buying Woolard’s council vote. Woolard, who resigned from the council in January, 1987, later served an eight-month prison sentence for stealing $5,500 from the U.S. post office where he worked.

Ferguson denied Woolard’s bribery allegation, and an investigation by the district attorney’s office last year concluded that there was not enough evidence to charge Ferguson with a crime.

In the midst of that controversy last spring, Ferguson used a racially offensive term in a local newspaper interview, and the resulting criticism forced him to step down from the largely ceremonial position of mayor. After those remarks, Ferguson’s opponents began the successful recall effort in November, 1987, that resulted in his removal from office by a vote of 1,823 to 666.

After the recall, Ferguson, who early in the year had been hospitalized for several weeks with a heart ailment, announced that he had leukemia.

City Councilman Clint Harper said Friday that he did not believe that Ferguson had a chance to win election to the council “given the quality of some of the other potential candidates.”

The terms of council members John Lane, Bernardo Perez and John Galloway expire in November. Lane has said he will not run for reelection. Galloway said he is undecided.

Perez has taken out nomination papers, as have city Planning Commission members John Wozniak, Scott Montgomery and Paul Lawrason.