6 in Narrow Race for 3 Agoura Hills Seats

Six candidates were locked in a close race Tuesday for three seats on the Agoura Hills City Council.

Incumbents Darlene McBane, Fran Pavley and Jack W. Koenig were seeking reelection against three challengers. The top three vote-getters of the six will be elected.

Early returns showed no candidate assured of victory or far out of contention. The early leaders were Pavley and challengers Ed Kurtz and Paul G. (Gary) Mueller. McBane, Koenig and challenger Barry S. Steinhardt followed.

Koenig’s frequent, sometimes personal differences with his four City Council colleagues have made his political style a campaign issue in the city of 20,200.

Koenig, who has sometimes referred to the four women council members as “the girls,” was accused last month of helping foster a recall drive against the four. He denied involvement in the recall, but the incident alienated some of his former supporters.

Koenig was elected in 1985 with the support of a group known as For Agoura ’85. This year, For Agoura ‘89--which Koenig claimed was different than the 1985 group--endorsed McBane and Pavley but dropped Koenig from its slate. The group endorsed challenger Kurtz over Koenig.

McBane, a former city planning commissioner, also was elected in 1985. She presently holds the title of mayor.

Pavley, a teacher at a Moorpark middle school, has served on the council since the city’s 1982 incorporation.

Kurtz is a past chairman of a citizens’ advisory committee on parks and recreation and has coached youth sports. He runs a promotional advertising company in Reseda.

Mueller is a former president of the Agoura-Las Virgenes Chamber of Commerce and owner of an auto parts store in Agoura Hills. Steinhardt is a securities representative.