News of Montgomery Stuns City Officials

The news of Councilman Scott Montgomery’s resignation and guilty plea caught Moorpark’s top city officials off guard Thursday, stunning many of his former colleagues.

Mayor Paul Lawrason and Councilman Bernardo Perez, who have both known Montgomery since he served on the Planning Commission in 1987, were at a loss for words in describing Montgomery’s guilty plea to conflict-of-interest charges and his hasty resignation.

“I know Scott must be hurting bad,” Perez said. “All I can say, and I’m stunned by this, is that at least by doing it so quickly, it allows the city to move forward.”

Both Perez and Lawrason said that although they have had violent disagreements with Montgomery, they cared about him personally.

“This is devastating news,” Lawrason said. “I’ve know Scott for 10 years, and personally it’s just distressing to me.”

Lawrason’s wife, Connie, tried to go by Montgomery’s house and console Montgomery’s wife, Trisha. But she found the home shuttered and no one inside.

“I imagine that Scott wants to be alone with his wife and children and ride this thing out,” Connie Lawrason said.

The resignation also puts pressure on the council to fill Montgomery’s term, which has another year to run.

Faced with a number of important decisions, including whether to renew a five-year exclusive trash franchise agreement with G. I. Industries, Lawrason said the council will very likely meet next week to discuss what to do next.

The City Council has a number of options, the mayor said.

Council members could appoint someone to fill the remainder of Montgomery’s term, hold a special election before the end of the year, or wait and hold an election during the March primary. Holding a special election is not an attractive option because it would cost the city about $5,000.

The bottom line, Lawrason said, is to move on and let the city get beyond the controversy that has hung over Montgomery and Moorpark for 10 months.

This is the second time that Moorpark, just over a decade old, has been rocked by a controversy involving members of its City Council.

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In 1987, former City Council member Danny Woolard resigned after pleading guilty to embezzling $5,500 from the downtown post office, where he worked. Former Mayor Thomas (Bud) Ferguson, who was never convicted of anything, was later recalled after a district attorney’s investigation of possible conflict of interest.

Former City Councilman Clint Harper, who served before and after Ferguson and Woolard left office, said Montgomery has undermined the confidence of local residents in city government.

Harper, who now serves on the city’s school board and is considering running for City Council next year, said Montgomery tarnished the image of the council.

And he took the council to task for not condemning what Montgomery had done.

“Our community runs very well,” Harper said. “We have very good government here. But why can they [the council members] become so fuzzy on the facts now that he has admitted a breach of public trust? Why can’t they speak out?”

Harper, who has been a frequent critic of Montgomery over the years, said that although he had nothing against Montgomery personally, Montgomery’s actions should be condemned.

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“I’ve never criticized him for not working hard . . . and, on a personal level, he’s a very charming individual. He’s easy to talk to, he’s personable, very telegenic, but none of that counts if he was using his office for illegal purposes,” Harper said. “All that pales in comparison to misusing your public office.”

Harper had high praise for the district attorney’s office and said that criticism of prosecutors by some Moorpark politicians for pursuing the case so aggressively was misplaced.

“As a citizen, I want to compliment the D. A. for ferreting out a case of political corruption,” he said. “It shows they were doing their job.”

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Montgomery Probe Chronology

* January, 1995: The district attorney’s office requests all campaign finance records and statements of financial interest from Scott Montgomery and other Moorpark City Council members.

* February, 1995: D. A. investigators request minutes from the Moorpark City Council on city trash contracts and minutes from the Ventura County Waste Commission, where Montgomery served as both chairman and vice chairman.

* April, 1995: Montgomery resigns from a city committee negotiating an exclusive five-year trash-hauling contract with G. I. Industries, a Simi Valley waste hauler. He also withdraws his name from consideration as continuing chairman of the Waste Commission.

* May, 1995: The Times reports that Montgomery is the target of the investigation. He admits being contacted by investigators about a $3,500 payment from G. I. Sweeping in 1993 and a $12,000 payment received in 1992 from G. I. Equipment Leasing.

* July, 1995: Former G. I. Industries CEO Manuel Asadurian Sr. says the $3,500 payment was a short-term loan to Montgomery. Montgomery maintains that it was a payment for a computer.

* September, 1995: Montgomery and key officials from G. I. Industries are subpoenaed to testify before the Ventura County grand jury.

* Oct. 12, 1995: Montgomery pleads guilty to one felony count of conflict of interest and one misdemeanor conflict of interest. He resigns from all public positions.