ELECTIONS / MOORPARK : Mayoral Race Recalls 1990’s Bitter Campaign

When Helen Taylor learned that Moorpark Mayor Paul W. Lawrason Jr. had changed his license plate frame to read, “Moorpark’s First Elected Mayor,” she thought that it said more about his vanity than his leadership.

“I just think he has a really big ego,” Taylor said this week. “He enjoys the title and the prestige. He enjoys that and I want to take it away from him, very badly.”

Taylor, a registered nurse, and rancher Edward R. (Pete) Peters are challenging one-term incumbent Mayor Lawrason in a contest that appears to be heading toward a repeat of the bruising battle in the city’s first mayoral race in 1990.

Three incumbent council members are also up for reelection and will try to retain their seats over two challengers in a race that so far has lacked the sparks of the mayoral contest. Councilmen Bernardo Perez, Scott Montgomery and Roy Talley will run against former Councilwoman Eloise Brown and Patrick Hunter, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy.

Lawrason, 63, said he fears that his reelection campaign will be as combative as the 1990 campaign when he decided in the midst of his four-year council term to participate in the city’s first mayoral race.

That campaign was particularly contentious, with former Councilman Clint Harper calling Lawrason a patsy to developers contributing to his campaign. Lawrason defeated Harper handily in the race and rejects the old charge, saying he has broad-based support and is not beholden to anyone.

Now, he said, he is being slammed by a new challenger with warrantless charges. He dismisses Taylor’s accusations--that he is an ego-driven politician who has done nothing for the city’s economy--as a hollow attempt to grab headlines.

“It troubles me that she may really feel that is the case,” Lawrason said. “She doesn’t know me at all.”

In waging her campaign, Taylor, 33, accuses Lawrason of spending too much time reflecting on his title to effectively lead this city of 26,000. She says the mayor and council have not done enough to encourage business in Moorpark, leaving city residents no option but to shop--and pay sales taxes--in the nearby cities of Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks.

She says Moorpark will earn $36 in sales tax for each resident this year, while Simi Valley will earn $62 and Thousand Oaks will take in $118.

“The first thing I would do is go look at all the ordinances that they placed on the businesses and either eliminate them or modify them considerably,” Taylor said. “I think we need to get some major retail in the area, so people will get into the habit of shopping locally.”

Taylor won recognition in the spring when she collected 1,200 signatures in a bid to persuade the Moorpark Unified School District to reconfigure its system and establish magnet schools. The district has impaneled a special committee to consider the request.

Moorpark was listed as having the highest median income in Ventura County, $60,368, in 1990 census data. Lawrason said the city is just now coming into its own economically, and is starting to attract the kind of retail and commercial development that would allow residents to shop near home.

Lawrason, a member of the Moorpark Economic Development Committee, a group set up jointly by the city and Chamber of Commerce years ago, said he is working to see how the city can attract a better and broader range of businesses. He said the group is planning to hire a “business ombudsman,” who would work with local store owners and solicit outside merchants to come to the city.

“I think one of the reasons for the (sales tax) discrepancy is, we are in that borderline area of population, where we can’t quite attract the large retailers to our city,” Lawrason said. “We’re getting there.”

Not fast enough, said challenger Peters, 71, who has lived in Moorpark since 1960. He said city government has become unresponsive and encumbers businesses with too many rules and regulations.

“I just got fed up with the way the city is being run and thought I could do a better job,” he said. Among his plans are a strict adherence to the city’s General Plan instead of allowing individual zone changes, fewer city ordinances and an economic task force to attract new business to Moorpark.

Peters said he plans to spend about $750 on his campaign, buying three or four newspaper ads and a few signs. No political mailers or precinct walking are in his schedule. “Mailers aren’t from the candidates, they’re from whoever’s owed the favors. The more mailers, the more favors,” Peters said. “If people want me as a candidate, they’ll vote for me. If they don’t want me, why should I have to go and tell them lies.”

In the council race, the incumbents cite lists of accomplishments while their challengers label them as ineffective.

The issue for Hunter, 31, is also to help bolster the city’s economy. He said he wants Moorpark residents to be able to buy everything they need to survive without leaving the city. He also is looking for a council to care more about the shops it does have.

“I’ve been in many of the existing businesses,” Hunter said. “And I ask them all the same question. ‘When was the last time the city came to you and asked how business was, or came in and asked how they could help you?’ The response was always the same. ‘Well, never.’ I think that’s shameful.”

Talley, 44, who won the seat vacated by Lawrason in a special election in March, 1991, said the city has become more business-oriented in the time that he has been on the council, and is continuing its efforts to promote the local economy.

“We have become a very pro-business group,” Talley said. “We have streamlined processes, we’ve tried to work with businesses, we’ve asked for all our ordinances regarding restrictions to be looked at and reviewed. I think this is just uninformed challengers, trying to use this as leverage.”

For Montgomery, 39, completing a first term that began in 1988, the key issues are his contribution to the city’s financial footing and work on waste management as a charter member of the Ventura County Waste Commission.

Montgomery, who works as a financial consultant to governments, said the city reserves have more than tripled since he was elected, from $1.2 million to $3.9 million. The accomplishment comes at a time when the state and county have become increasingly creative in finding ways to take money away from cities, he said.

The councilman said he is best qualified to prevent all the county’s trash from being hauled through Moorpark on its way to the Simi Valley Landfill. Delays in approving the proposed Weldon Canyon landfill near Ojai and the impending closure of the Bailard Landfill in Oxnard could make the disaster reality, he said.

“We need some real solid representation at the county level to see that that doesn’t happen,” Montgomery said. “If anyone has a chance, I do, because I’ve been there from the beginning.”

While praising Montgomery’s efforts, former councilwoman Brown, 71, who served one term from 1986 to 1990, said the city lost clout in the county when she left office because she attended most of the county meetings and no one else has assumed the responsibility.

“I feel that there are things being left undone that I can do because I’m available to do them,” Brown said. “I think I was the official meeting attender for the city when I was there.”

Brown said she has remained active in city politics and is ready to return to public office. “When I left the council,” she said, “I didn’t take my knitting and go home.”

Bernardo Perez, 43, was first elected in a special election in February, 1988, and returned to office 10 months later for his first full term. He said he seeks another four-year term to help meet Moorpark’s need for affordable housing and ensure representation for all of the city’s residents.

Perez has often been perceived as the unofficial spokesman for the city’s Latino community. But he said his support is broad-based and he does not want to be seen as the leader of one specific group.

“When it’s necessary, I will certainly accept that role,” Perez said. But, he said, “I have not set myself up to the spokesperson or the standard-bearer for the Latino community.”

Under the arrangement for the City Council election, the top two finishers will win four-year seats and the third highest will win a two-year term. The shorter term is designed to stagger the election years for council seats.