Council Members Eye Stanton’s Seat : Politics: Sensing senior supervisor’s vulnerability in wake of county bankruptcy, four city leaders say they are weighing their options for the March, 1996, primary.

Sensing that Supervisor Roger R. Stanton is politically vulnerable and hoping to bring about change in county government, four council members from various cities said Thursday that they are considering challenging him for his 1st District supervisorial seat.

Westminster Mayor Charles V. Smith, Fountain Valley Councilman George B. Scott, Fountain Valley Councilwoman Laurann Cook and Garden Grove Councilman Mark Leyes said that they are weighing their options for the March, 1996, primary election.

According to political consultants, county observers and potential candidates, Stanton, the board’s most senior member, is at risk of becoming the first supervisor ousted from office by voters angered by the county’s bankruptcy crisis.

“He is vulnerable,” said political consultant Harvey Englander, who has volunteered his services for free to any qualified candidate challenging Stanton. “As gruesome a picture as this might present, Roger Stanton stands naked before the voters.”

During the early days of the bankruptcy, Stanton indicated that he intended to run for reelection. Recently, however, he has said that his mind is not made up on the issue.

“I’m not even thinking about it,” Stanton insisted Thursday. “The filing time is so far off. It’s like any other cycle. You reserve your decision, your announcement, you pretty much reserve any discussion of it until the silly season really starts.”

With board Chairman Gaddi H. Vasquez deciding not to seek another term in office and the three other members not facing reelection bids for another four years, Stanton would be the first sitting supervisor to face the electorate since the bankruptcy, if he actually draws a challenger.

Some county observers said Stanton could become a lightning rod for voters’ frustration over the county’s financial mess. He has been politically tarred by the county’s Dec. 6 bankruptcy, they said. Potential candidates such as Smith, Leyes, Cook, Scott and others may take advantage of the incumbent’s perceived weakness.

“I’m seriously considering running,” Smith said Thursday. “It’s a time for restructuring and downsizing of county government.”

Smith said he is most troubled by the fact that the county’s bureaucracy has grown at the same time as its sphere of influence has decreased. “County government has gotten way out of hand,” he said.

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Scott, who sat on the Fountain Valley City Council with Stanton before his election to supervisor, said that he is “looking at” running for Stanton’s seat and expects to make a final decision by the end of the month. He too said that the government needs drastic restructuring.

Cook, also a Fountain Valley council member, said that she has been approached by people asking her to run for supervisor. She said she is considering running for the 1st District seat as well as making a possible run for the assembly seat that will be vacated by Doris Allen (R-Cypress) in 1996 because of term limits.

“Right now I’ve just been very busy in the city with the bankruptcy,” Cook said. “I haven’t really decided what I might do.”

Leyes said he is considering a supervisorial bid because the current board is not cutting it.

“The fact is we need some aggressive leadership on the Board of Supervisors that is willing to stand up to the special interests like Wall Street and make the reforms necessary to fix the problems that led to this bankruptcy,” Leyes said. “I could be the one. I have some ideas, but I could also support some other candidate.”

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Santa Ana Councilman Ted R. Moreno also has been mentioned as a possible candidate for Stanton’s seat. He could not be reached for comment Thursday. Former Huntington Beach Councilwoman Linda Moulton Patterson, who ran unsuccessfully against Supervisor Jim Silva for the 2nd District seat, is rumored to be considering moving into the 1st District for a possible challenge to Stanton. She also could not be reached for comment.

Stanton said he had heard nothing definitive about any potential challengers. With about $180,000 already stowed in his campaign war chest, the supervisor also said he has given no thought to prospects for future fund raising.

“I don’t worry--I try to get things done,” he said. “Right now this is a full-time job, if not double-time. I haven’t thought about the politics of it.”

So far, Stanton said, he has not felt singled out for political criticism. While there is much anger directed at the entire board about the bankruptcy, Stanton said, he does not feel the heat personally.

“One of the funny things is that [freshman Supervisor] Jim Silva was asked to resign before he was even sworn into office,” Stanton said. “The board, as a whole, has been in the spotlight. I haven’t felt anything directed at me.”

Some county activists, in fact, have been supportive of Stanton--especially since he opposed the Measure R tax hike.

“Roger has kind of emerged as a folk hero out of this,” Tom Rogers, a member of the No on R committee, said last week. “I don’t think anyone is going to take it out on Roger Stanton.”

Stanton, however, also has made enemies because of his position on the tax hike and his somewhat gruff manner with county staff.

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He is the only supervisor to have faced an official recall effort. The recall petition failed for a lack of signatures.

Even the county’s chief executive officer, William J. Popejoy, has gone after Stanton, asking the grand jury to investigate and remove him from office for alleged misconduct. Popejoy told the panel that he thought Stanton breached confidentiality by suggesting a possible settlement figure for the county’s lawsuit against Merrill Lynch.

Stanton strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Times staff writers Jodi Wilgoren and Len Hall contributed to this report.

* ROLLOVER VOTE Noteholders expected today to grant O.C. extension. D1