COSTA MESA : Amburgey Suffers Decisive Defeat

Final election tallies showed that voters handed controversial City Councilman Orville Amburgey a decisive defeat and overwhelmingly approved stricter ethics laws for city officials.

Amburgey, who drew fire for his sponsorship of measures directed against illegal immigrants and poor people, is under investigation by the district attorney for possible conflict of interest.

On Wednesday, Amburgey disputed the notion that voters had shown their disapproval of his policies. Instead, he blamed media coverage, especially of the conflict-of-interest investigation, for his downfall.

“Right now the damage has been done,” he said. “The accusation that there were some improprieties has affected the vote. As far as I’m concerned, there’s no wrongdoing and (the investigation) will reflect that.”

In an outcome that was also linked to disapproval of Amburgey, voters approved a conflict-of-interest measure that affects campaign contributions. The council will now adopt an ordinance prohibiting City Council members from voting on projects on which its sponsors have donated more than $500 to their campaigns a year before the project comes up for a vote.

It would also prohibit council members from accepting money from a project’s sponsor within three months after it is taken up by the City Council. Amburgey was criticized earlier this year for accepting a campaign contribution from the owner of the Goat Hill Tavern a few weeks after casting a vote favorable to the bar.

In other races for City Council positions, Mayor Peter Buffa handily won reelection. Buffa, who was once an Amburgey ally, has vowed to steer the city away from some of the controversial measures sponsored by Amburgey.

The two candidates who most opposed Amburgey positions, Karen McGlinn and Jay Humphrey, were in a horse race for much of election night, with Humphrey, in his second campaign for a council seat, the apparent winner by 59 votes. City officials said it was one of the closest races in memory, and McGlinn on Wednesday still held out hope that the absentee ballot count would put her over the top.

McGlinn, a board member of Share Our Selves, one of the largest charities in Orange County and a prime target of Amburgey, ran a largely grass-roots campaign on a shoestring budget.

A supervisor at the registrar of voters office said there are 50,000 uncounted absentee ballots in the county and an official count is not expected until next Tuesday. She did not know how many of those ballots were cast by Costa Mesa residents.

Candidate Arlene Schafer, a former city councilwoman and mayor who was considered an Amburgey ally, finished in last place.

Voters defeated an advisory measure to continue the sale of legal fireworks in the city. Although it is likely that the council will adopt an ordinance prohibiting the sale of fireworks in Costa Mesa, the advisory measure does not require the council to do so, according to the city attorney.