IRVINE : Cosgrove’s Seating on Council Upheld

Dashing the hopes of conservative activists, an Orange County judge ruled Thursday that City Councilman Cameron Cosgrove was legally elected 20 months ago.

The ruling by Superior Court Judge Claude M. Owens ends an increasingly shrill battle between Cosgrove supporters, including slow-growth advocate Mayor Larry Agran, and opponents, who filed suit one year ago in an attempt to unseat Cosgrove.

The legal issue boiled down to a question of timing: precisely when did Measure D, a voter initiative approved in June, 1988, take effect?

Cosgrove, 31, an insurance executive, came in third in a race for two open council seats in the June, 1988, election. Under the terms of the City Charter, the third-place finish allowed Cosgrove to be appointed to the council to fill a vacancy left by then-councilman Agran, who won his mayoral post in the same election.

Under Measure D, however, a runner-up such as Cosgrove could be challenged if 7% of the voters signed a petition asking for another election.

Cosgrove’s challengers argued in their lawsuit that the councilman assumed office illegally because he was sworn in July 20, five days after the voter initiative took effect.

In a complex, 11-page opinion, the court disagreed. Cosgrove is “lawfully entitled to the office in question. . . ,” Owens wrote. “Plaintiff’s contention is not reasonable.”

The court ruling gives Cosgrove an advantage in the June election because the decision allows him to run as an incumbent. The ruling also removes the legal cloud that has been hanging over Cosgrove since his appointment to the City Council 20 months ago.

“I’m ecstatic,” said Stephen Coontz, one of two attorneys representing Cosgrove. “This ends the case. This is it.”

Cosgrove could not be reached for comment.

But Howard J. Klein, an Irvine patent attorney who was one of the two plaintiffs who brought the suit, said he would ask the judge to reconsider his ruling. Klein said he would probably not appeal because it is unlikely that a decision could be rendered before the March deadline for filing as a candidate in the June election.

“If the judge’s decision stands, then the people of Irvine have been cheated out of an election, which we have been led to believe we were entitled to,” Klein said. “I can’t say that it’s over. We have to give that some thought to see if we can get some further consideration from Judge Owens.”