Ex-Mayor of Agoura Hills Rejoins Council--for Now

Outgoing Agoura Hills Mayor Louise Rishoff was sworn in for a new term as a city councilwoman late Tuesday. But whether she will still be a councilwoman by late today remains to be seen.

The Los Angeles County registrar of voters is expected to complete a ballot recount today that will show whether Rishoff actually scored a slim victory in a bitter November election over her closest challenger, Paul G. Mueller.

Mueller, president of the Agoura-Las Virgenes Chamber of Commerce, demanded the recount last month after losing to Rishoff by six votes--1,616 to 1,610. By late Tuesday, the recount, already in progress, had reduced Rishoff’s winning margin to five votes, registrar spokeswoman Marcia Ventura said.

Nevertheless, the city went ahead with Rishoff’s swearing-in at the annual municipal reorganization meeting so that the council would have a quorum to elect a mayor and mayor pro tempore, City Manager David Carmanny said. Rishoff was not in the running for those posts because she has already served as mayor.

“If there are different results tomorrow from the recount, then we will surely honor them,” Carmanny said.

Said Rishoff: “As of today, nothing has changed and I’ve still been elected. We are proceeding on the information we have at this point.”

Mueller, who is paying $625 for the recount, spent much of the day at the registrar’s office awaiting results and could not be reached for comment.

Also sworn in at the ceremony was Joan E. Yacovone, who got more votes than any other candidate in the election. The planning commissioner replaced retiring Councilwoman Vicky Leary.

The council unanimously appointed Fran Pavley mayor and Ed Kurtz mayor pro tempore.

The bitter election was among the closest in the city’s history. The top four vote-getters were within 2% of each other and a record number of voters turned out, 39.8% of 10,941 registered.

The race between the six City Council candidates centered on personalities and perceptions as much as issues.

The challengers--all political outsiders--charged that Rishoff and Yacovone were part of a political bloc that favored certain neighborhoods while neglecting others. Rishoff and Yacovone denied the accusations.

The bitterness of the campaign still has not run its course. Rishoff has asked the Los Angeles County district attorney to investigate a letter, mailed to other candidates and newspapers during the campaign, which she says erroneously alleged that she represented developer Dale Poe while serving on the council.