Cypress Won’t Fight Ruling; Nominee Will Join Council

After meeting in closed session, members of the Cypress City Council decided Wednesday not to appeal a judge’s ruling ordering them to seat a controversial council nominee who favors a city development project.

An ecstatic Walter Bowman, the nominee who won the court ruling, said after the council’s vote Wednesday night that he expects to be sworn in by the city clerk this morning at 8 o’clock.

“I’m delighted and I’m ready to get to the job of being a councilman,” Bowman said. “The decision was fairly discussed, and by a vote of the council they decided not to appeal the court’s decision.”

Actually, the council voted not to seek a second legal opinion, a process that could have delayed Bowman’s swearing in, Cypress City Councilman John Kanel said.

“Our vote was 2 to 2, so we were deadlocked. And that, in essence, cleared the way for Mr. Bowman to be sworn in tomorrow,” Kanel said late Wednesday.

Bowman will fill a seat left vacant by the February resignation of former Mayor William Davis. Davis’ departure and a subsequent search of potential council nominees to fill his seat resulted in turmoil after the council apparently failed to nominate Bowman at an April 10 meeting, when two members voted for him and two abstained.

Kanel joined with Councilwoman Gail H. Kerry in abstaining. Councilwoman Margaret M. Arnold, who had nominated Bowman, and Cecilia L. Age had voted in favor of Bowman’s appointment to the fifth council seat.

Votes Must Be Counted as ‘Yes’

The council interpreted the abstentions as “no” votes and scheduled a special election for Sept. 12 to let voters fill the seat. But Superior Court Judge Eileen Moore ruled Tuesday that the abstentions, under Cypress’ city code, must be counted as “yes” votes in support of the motion naming Bowman to the seat.

Bowman drew criticism from some council members, including Kanel, for what they saw as his support of the controversial Cypress Downs project, a business and recreational proposal on 167 acres surrounding the Los Alamitos Race Course.

Voters had defeated the Cypress Downs plan by a margin of almost 2 to 1 in a special February ballot measure, but the issue remains hotly debated, with state and federal actions still pending.

Despite the legal ruling, tensions remained high, especially during a closed session Wednesday night when two council members, Arnold and Kerry, who wanted to hold a city election, argued heatedly about Bowman’s swearing in.

Both Kerry and Kanel said they believe that Bowman, 50, a Realtor, has circumvented an election process by winning his seat based on a “legal technicality.”