AGOURA HILLS : Recall Group Gathers 2,900 Signatures

A group trying to recall the Agoura Hills City Council appears to have cleared the first hurdle in its drive to gather the signatures needed to force a recall election, the group’s leader said.

As of Monday, the group had about 2,900 signatures, enough to compel an official count, said Barbara Murphy of Citizens Against New Local Taxes. The group must turn in 2,405 signatures--or 20% of the city’s registered voters--by Wednesday to require a recall election, according to the city clerk’s office.

Murphy said Monday that she has made an informal count of the signatures using voter registration lists, and that to date, 80% to 90% of the signatures are valid.

“It’s going to be a nail biter, right down to the very last minute,” she said.

The signatures will be counted at the city clerk’s office, city officials said. If they number at least 2,405, the signatures will be sent to the County Clerk/Registrar Recorder’s office, to be checked for validity. If 2,405 signatures are deemed valid, the City Council must call an election, to be held in not less than 88 days or more than 125 days.

Murphy’s group launched the recall drive last summer after the council unanimously approved a 4% tax on electricity, gas and telephone service to help close what the city says is a $1-million deficit. The recall group says the deficit is far less and that the city could have balanced the budget without the tax. The city, the recall group claims, has wasted money and has allowed city salaries to spiral out of control.

Council members insist that the tax was necessary and that their position was supported by most of the members of the city’s budget committee. The recall, council members charge, was secretly sparked by business interests angry with the council over its support for an ordinance banning pole signs, a charge denied by the recall group.

City Council members, noting that the recall group has used a consultant to help gather signatures, says that proves that the recall is being spurred by outside interests. Recall leaders, for their part, argue that using outside consultants is justified if it helps get the recall issue before voters.