AGOURA HILLS : Judge OKs Recount in Council Recall

A judge has ordered a recount of 94 signatures on a recall petition that, had they been counted, would have forced a recall election against Agoura Hills City Councilwoman Fran Pavley.

The city of Agoura Hills and the Los Angeles County registrar/recorder’s office “abused [their] discretion” by throwing out the signatures on a technicality, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Diane Wayne said in her ruling.

The city and county disallowed the signatures because the signers failed to turn in voter registration cards to the county by the Dec. 7 deadline. The signatures were turned in a day later by the recall leader, Barbara Murphy, who maintains that she failed to make the deadline because she was stricken with an attack of cardiac arrhythmia, an irregularity of the heartbeat.

At the same time, Wayne upheld the city and county’s decision to throw out on technicalities numerous other signatures against the city’s four other council members.

Greg Stepanicich, an attorney for the city, disagreed with the judge’s ruling in the Pavley case, saying “there are no exceptions” to the deadline for turning in voter registration cards. Murphy, he said, had the cards in her possession “days, if not weeks” before the deadline.

It still remains to be seen, he said, whether the recall group will get the signatures it needs. The findings of the recount, which is being conducted by the county, will be presented to Wayne on June 16.

The group launched the recall about a year ago against the entire five-member City Council after it passed a 4% utility tax. To force a recall election, the group needed 2,405 signatures--or 20% of the city’s registered voters--for each member.

The group turned in the signatures Dec. 7. They were 53 signatures short of forcing a recall election for Pavley, who had more petitioners against her than did any of the other council members.

The suit names the City of Agoura Hills, Agoura Hills City Clerk Pat Manning, who oversaw a raw count, and the county clerk/registrar recorder’s office, which conducted the validation. During the raw count and validation, hundreds of signatures were thrown out on technicalities.

The suit argues that such dismissals are undemocratic. Pavley and other council members say the recall movement is suspect because it is being financed by business people unhappy with the council’s support of an ordinance banning freeway signs.