Incumbent City Officials Stay Put, Except for Smoker of Pot

Residents of Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and Camarillo voted to retain all incumbent city candidates Tuesday, and voters in Moorpark turned out a councilman who had admitted to smoking marijuana.

Moorpark City Councilman John Galloway, in a bid for a second term, finished sixth in a race for three seats. Galloway admitted this summer that he had smoked marijuana twice, once after graduating from high school and again last year, while serving on the council.

Moorpark voters elected incumbent Bernardo M. Perez, a Los Angeles Department of Power and Water representative; Paul Lawrason, a planning commissioner and business manager, and Scott Montgomery, a government financial adviser and a Moorpark planning commissioner.

Perez finished first in the field of nine candidates, with 3,774 votes, or 18.1%; Lawrason was second with 3,456 votes, or 16.6%, and Montgomery was third with 2,923, or 14%.

Galloway finished sixth, with 1,917 votes, or 9.2%. “I think there was an unfortunate smear campaign,” Galloway said. “A mailer came out Saturday that touched on the pot issue, and it undermined my appeal to the public.

‘Go for Smooth Talker’

“But I don’t believe that was the only factor. Sometimes people just go for the smooth talker rather than the person who tells the truth.”

Thomas C. (Bud) Ferguson, a former Moorpark council member who voters recalled by a 3-1 margin in 1987 after unproved allegations surfaced that he had tried to influence another council member’s vote by lending him money, finished last, with 1,210 votes, or 5.8%.

A third Moorpark incumbent, Councilman John Patrick Lane, did not seek reelection.

In Camarillo, which recently lost $25 million after its former treasurer used funds to finance highly speculative municipal investments, David M. Smith, a financial planner, and incumbent Mike Morgan, a probation officer, got the most votes in the race between nine candidates for two City Council seats.

Morgan finished first, with 8,777 votes, or 23.5%. Smith received 7,238, or 19.4%, narrowly defeating George Imrie, a financial manager, who lost to Smith by 222 votes. Imrie received 7,016, or 18.8%.

“It’s hard to know exactly what factors contributed to my victory, but my financial expertise certainly had an influence,” Smith said. “As I promised in my campaign, I will do everything I can to make sure we have fiscal responsibility and to communicate with the public about the city’s financial affairs.”

In Simi Valley, challengers failed to unseat Mayor Gregory A. Stratton and council members Glen McAdoo and Bill Davis. Stratton received 25,853 votes, or 79.2%. Challengers G. Paul Slaven had 5,452 votes, or 16.7%, and Lincoln Demyan received 1,263 votes, or 3.9%.

In the race between seven candidates for two City Council seats, incumbent Davis received 16,007 votes, or 30.2%, and McAdoo was reelected with 13,089 votes, or 24.7%.

Thousand Oaks voters reelected incumbents Lee Laxdal and Frank Schillo over three challengers who had charged that the City Council is unresponsive to community concerns. Laxdal received 22,524 votes, or 30.6%. Schillo received 21,832, or 29.7%.