Recall Vote to Judge Voss’ Act of ‘Stupidity’

On a cool January night, a silver Volvo cruised up and down Harbor Boulevard in Santa Ana. At a corner, two women dressed as prostitutes waited.

The Volvo neared the intersection and stopped, while the 52-year-old driver spoke to the women. Twenty dollars was offered. Moments later, the mayor of Fountain Valley was being arrested on suspicion of soliciting sex from an undercover officer during a crackdown on prostitution, which had been highly publicized in advance.

Fred Voss will never forget that night and his “moment of stupidity” for which, he says, he already has paid dearly. But others in Fountain Valley say he lost the right to represent them that January night.

Voss’ arrest shocked the town and brought demands for his resignation. In February, Voss resigned as mayor, but remained on the City Council. But on Tuesday, he will face his toughest battle yet, when Fountain Valley voters decide whether Voss should be ousted from the City Council seat he has held for eight years.

Voss, one of 16 men arrested that night, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of soliciting prostitution. He was sentenced to three years’ probation, fined $300 and ordered to stay away from that stretch of Harbor Boulevard.

“It was half curiosity, half stupidity and some entrapment,” Voss said of that night. “And I’ve suffered tremendously for the mistake. But after 20 years of service to this community, I feel the community does have the capacity to forgive.

“When is enough enough? How long can I continue to pay the price for one mistake?”

But Bob Moss, a retired mechanical engineer, and more than 70 other residents who organized a recall committee against Voss believe the mistake is unforgivable for a public servant.

“We are talking about the integrity of our community,” Moss said. “We are not knocking Voss and his contributions, we are just saying give the voters a chance to decide if they want a guy who obviously lacked sound judgment skills that night to continue to decide issues for the city.”

Voss has lived in Fountain Valley since the 1960s and has been involved in community activities, including the Boys Club Advisory Board and the Fountain Valley School District board. Voss has been divorced for four years and lives with one of his two adult sons.

In 1981, Voss, a telephone systems manager, was appointed to the city Planning Commission and a year later ran successfully for a seat on the City Council.

During his time on the council, Voss was instrumental in securing a new center for senior citizens and successfully fought a citywide special tax assessment district for street lighting in 1982. In campaign literature he mailed this week, he also stresses his involvement in more than 20 local organizations over the years.

The committee to recall Voss said they had no problem turning in more than 7,000 signatures to the city clerk in late July to qualify the recall for the ballot.

“I don’t think he thought enough people would sign the petition,” said Devon N. Dahl, a businessman in Fountain Valley who is not a member of the recall committee but supports the recall effort. “As a concerned citizen, I took it upon myself to call him and asked Fred for the details, and that is the attitude I got from him: ‘You can’t get me.’ ”

Voss denies he implied that, and said he never underestimated the success the committee would have in gathering signatures.

Voss also maintains that because his seat on the council expires in 1990, a special election is unwarranted.

“It’s a tremendous waste,” Voss said. “I was considering not running again next year anyway. If they do get what they want, another special election is going to have to be held to replace me for about seven months. It doesn’t make sense.”

If Voss is recalled, a special election to replace him would cost $45,000, according to the city clerk’s office.

Voss’ supporters believe that the recall effort is an overreaction.

“He was just one of the men arrested that night, but is anyone else being criticized like this?” said longtime friend and supporter Howard Stephens. “According to the Bible, a man who looks at a woman with lust in his heart has commited adultery. I never saw anything to indicate that he ever had anything but the city’s best interest at heart; he worked hard for this community and should be respected for that.”

Frank Hopkins, another longtime friend, says Voss has paid for his mistake.

“It was an unfortunate thing to have to happen, and I was shocked,” Hopkins said. “But I feel that his service to the community should speak for itself. Stepping down as mayor hurt as much as anything could.”

But Jan Wilham, who was Voss’ campaign manager in the last election, disagrees. The incident on Harbor Boulevard, she said, was not characteristic of Voss. Still, she said, she advised him afterward to resign.

“He has done a lot for the city, and it is for that reason that I think he shouldn’t put himself through this mess,” Wilham said. “I told him as a friend to resign as mayor and I told him to give this up too. I am just sorry he hasn’t listened.”

So far, the recall committee said it has spent about $300, with most of the money going for posters to be placed around the city this weekend reminding people to vote yes next Tuesday.

“Our aim is to get people out and involved with this, which will also include calling people we had sign the petition and urging them to get out and vote,” Moss said. “If anything, this campaigning has worked to our advantage because it too has reminded people of something that made a large percentage of our community very, very upset.”

Voss, who declined to say how much his campaign spent on materials, remains adamant about wanting to continue serving Fountain Valley on the council. But he also says it won’t be easy. “I am worried, as well I should be,” Voss said. “It probably won’t be a large turnout, making it a tough election to win. . . .

“But if things don’t work in my favor, I’ll begin concentrating on other aspects in my life that have gone neglected, such as personal relationships, because of my other obligations. There is life after politics.”