AGOURA HILLS : Judge to Consider Recall Petition Case

A judge will hear arguments next month on whether Agoura Hills and Los Angeles County had the right to disqualify numerous signatures on petitions to recall the entire Agoura Hills City Council.

The case will be heard by Judge Diane Wayne in Los Angeles Superior Court on May 26 at 9:30 a.m., court officials said.

The group leading the recall attempt maintains that the disqualified signatures, had they been counted, would have forced a recall election for at least one member.

The officials, recall leaders say, violated the petition signers’ civil rights by throwing out their signatures on technicalities.

Barbara Murphy, leader of the recall movement, said she had hoped for an earlier court date.

“I’d like to have this resolved,” she said. “But I’m happy that we were able to get something.”

The recall group needed 2,405 signatures--or 20% of the city’s registered voters--for each of the five council members, according to city officials.

The county clerk/registrar recorder’s office, which validated the signatures, says the group fell short in all five cases.

Murphy says the city, during a preliminary count at City Hall, disqualified an average of 100 signatures on each of the five petitions the recall group turned in.

The group fell 53 signatures short of forcing a recall election for Councilwoman Fran Pavley.

The recall group’s suit against the city names as defendants the city of Agoura Hills and City Clerk Pat Manning, as well as Los Angeles County.

City officials insist the petitions were processed according to law.

Murphy’s group launched the recall last summer after the council levied a 4% utility tax on residents.

Council members said the city’s budget woes left them no choice, but the recall group says that the tax was unnecessary and that the city should have made more cuts to offset its deficit.