Agoura Council Members Face Recall Drive

A citizens’ group in Agoura Hills launched a recall drive Thursday against four of the city’s five council members.

The group, United Neighbors of Agoura Hills, said that council members Louise Rishoff, Fran Pavley, Vicky Leary and Mayor Pro Tem Darlene McBane have catered to the influential Old Agoura neighborhood at the expense of the business community, especially in handling a recent controversy over Medfield Street.

Los Angeles County closed the street Aug. 3, worsening the area’s traffic problems and sparking a controversy that divided the city between Old Agourans and others, including the business community. The Old Agourans wanted the road kept closed and the business community wanted it reopened.

McBane, Pavley, Rishoff and Mayor Jack Koenig voted earlier this month to reopen the street to eastbound traffic with heavy trucks banned. Leary opposed the action. The United Neighbors group wants Medfield Street reopened completely until an alternate route along Canwood Street is constructed.

Koenig was spared from the recall drive because his earlier effort to reopen Medfield Street completely was shot down by the other four council members, said David Chagall, president of the group.

About 15 people attended the group’s meeting Thursday night to launch the recall drive, including Chagall, former Mayor John Hood and former council member Ernest Dynda.