Agoura Hills : Yacovone Says She Won’t Run Again

Agoura Hills City Councilwoman Joan Yacovone announced Wednesday that she will not seek reelection this November, saying she no longer has the time to devote to the job.

Yacovone, who was elected to a four-year term on the council in 1991, said her job as a medical underwriter is taking up more of her time these days. She said she will miss working with her colleagues on the council.

“We have . . . a diversity of ideas and a diversity of opinions,” she said. “But we’ve stuck together through some very difficult times.”

Her decision clears the way for a run by Dan Kuperberg, a Yacovone ally, who had planned to run only if she bowed out. Kuperberg, a Los Angeles County public defender, said that despite his close ties to Yacovone and other council members, he is “no puppet.”

Critics say Mayor Louise Rishoff, Yacovone and their three colleagues are part of a political machine that rewards its friends and punishes opponents, a charge the council denies. Last summer, critics of the council launched a recall attempt against all five after they levied a 4% utility tax on residents.

The recall movement failed to gather enough signatures for Rishoff, Yacovone, Dennis Weber and Ed Corridori, but succeeded in forcing a recall election against Fran Pavley. The date for Pavley’s recall vote has not yet been set.

Eight people in all have taken out papers to run for two seats, including Hank Murphy, whose wife, Barbara, spearheaded the recall attempt, and Gary Mueller, a longtime critic of city government who has run for council unsuccessfully three times. Others who have taken out papers are Kuperberg, Jonathan Willcox, Thomas Paskell, Larry Steinberg and Bob Mattingly. Rishoff has filed for reelection.

Yacovone said one of her major accomplishments was helping steer the city through its worst fiscal crisis ever. The recall had nothing to do with her decision not to run again, said Yacovone, who served on the city Planning Commission from 1984 to 1991.

The deadline for returning papers to seek a council seat is Wednesday at 5 p.m., city officials said.