Bryant Gets the Boot a Few Weeks Early : Pomona: The City Council didn’t wait for the official count. It used semiofficial returns of the recall election to oust him.

Talk about Total Recall.

The Pomona City Council, citing legal considerations, Monday hastened the departure of recalled Councilman C. L. (Clay) Bryant by declaring his seat vacant even though last week’s election returns have yet to be declared official.

City officials--and Bryant--thought that the outspoken 70-year-old councilman would hold onto his seat for about three weeks while the county completed its official canvass of votes in the June 5 election.

Instead, Bryant received word Monday afternoon that Charles Weissburd, county registrar-recorder, had certified semiofficial returns, clearing the way for the council to declare the seat vacant.

The council voted 3 to 0 to adopt the semiofficial returns showing that Bryant was trounced at the polls, 8,519 to 4,158. The council also scheduled a special election Sept. 18 to choose his replacement.

Bryant, whose blunt talk and aggressive actions made him a controversial figure on the council, did not attend the meeting Monday night and could not be reached for comment.

Mayor Donna Smith said the city asked the county to certify semiofficial returns instead of waiting for the official tally so that the process of removing Bryant from office could be completed. Smith said the city “would have been wide open to lawsuits” if Bryant had remained in office to cast a deciding vote on any issue after voters had recalled him.

City Atty. Arnold Glasman recommended that the council avoid potential legal challenges by accepting the semiofficial returns. Glasman said the state Legislature has seated members chosen in special elections without waiting for the official canvass. He said the council, likewise can accept semiofficial results.

Smith said state and county election officials voiced no objection to Pomona’s adoption of the semiofficial returns, because the recall vote was not close. The county plans to certify official election results June 26.

Bryant’s absence seemed to remove the drama from Monday’s council meeting, which was unusually short and quiet in contrast to meetings leading up to the recall election.

Councilman Tomas Ursua, who was attending a conference, was absent, leaving just the mayor and council members Nell Soto and Mark A. T. Nymeyer to conduct business.

Members of the public spoke for less than their allotted 30 minutes, and the council whipped through a light agenda in about 2 1/2 hours, finishing at 8:37 p.m. The mayor quickly cut off speakers who tried to make personal attacks, and she said the council would not hear comments about the recall. As a result, most of the comments from the public were unusually brief.

The winner of the Sept. 18 special election will serve the remainder of Bryant’s term, which extends until April, 1993. Bryant, although elected at large, represented the city’s 3rd District, which serves southeast Pomona. Candidates to succeed him must live in southeast Pomona, although residents across the city will be able to vote in the special election.

Meanwhile, the council will begin the process of drawing boundaries for six council districts for the 1991 city elections. Voters last week adopted two ballot measures to replace the current system, in which the mayor and four council members are elected citywide, with one in which six members of an expanded council are chosen by district. The mayor, the council’s seventh member, will be elected citywide.

The Rose Institute of State and Local Government at Claremont McKenna College has prepared two maps offering alternative ways of dividing the city into six districts. Smith, who said the council will begin considering boundaries in July, said she hopes the council will approve them by August or September.

Smith, Soto and Nymeyer will be up for reelection in 1991, with the primary election in March and runoffs in April. The expanded council’s two new members will also be elected at that time.

Ursua and Bryant’s successor will face reelection in 1993.