Moorpark Council Splits on Appointing an Interim Member : Government: Deadlock over replacing Scott Montgomery means seat won’t be filled until March.

Despite having the names of many qualified and interested candidates, the City Council failed Wednesday night to come up with the votes needed to appoint a new member to the council.

Splitting their votes 2 to 2, the council deadlocked on whether to go forward with making an appointment to fill former Councilman Scott Montgomery’s seat. Montgomery resigned two weeks ago after pleading guilty to felony and misdemeanor conflict-of-interest charges for accepting a $3,500 loan from a trash hauler and then voting last year on the company’s contract extension.

Although Moorpark’s municipal code requires the council to make an effort to appoint an interim member to a vacancy on the five-member panel, the inability of the council to find a majority in support of an appointment means the seat will remain vacant until the California presidential primary election March 26.

The winner of that council contest will serve the remaining months of Montgomery’s term, which expires in November, 1996. Another election would be held that month for a full four-year term.

The council was split with Councilman Bernardo Perez and Mayor Paul Lawrason in support of making an appointment, while members John Wozniak and Patrick Hunter said the city should wait for the spring election to fill the open seat.

Former Councilwoman Eloise Brown has argued that because three of the council’s four members were appointed to their seats last fall, the council would violate state law by making another appointment. The council and the city attorney disagree with Brown’s interpretation of the law.

Last fall--after no candidates came forward to challenge Mayor Lawrason, or Councilmen Wozniak and Perez--the council opted to cancel the election and appoint the three incumbents, saving the city an estimated $4,500.

But leaving the Montgomery post vacant might cripple the council’s decision-making power on crucial city issues, Lawrason and Perez said.

“The fact that this issue itself has generated such disparate views and split the council suggests that we could do the same on other issues,” Perez said about the split vote.

He disagreed with the argument made by Wozniak and others that an appointment was not necessary because the City Council was not scheduled to deliberate any big projects or issues before March.

“Everything we do is important to someone or some group,” Perez said before the meeting. “Maybe they aren’t as controversial or attention-grabbing, but we’ll have to go through the same deliberative process each time.”

Lawrason cited the number of times the Thousand Oaks City Council was deadlocked in 2-2 votes when it had a vacancy for the first six months of this year.

“We might as well shut the place down,” said Lawrason, trying to persuade Wozniak and Hunter to change their votes. “I think it’s our duty to make that appointment and keep the city running.”

To illustrate the potential for stalemates, the council deadlocked 2 to 2 on whether to adjourn Wednesday’s meeting. Making a statement after the council reconsidered the motion to adjourn, Lawrason said: “This is a perfect example of what could happen without that fifth member.”

Giving voters the chance to decide on their next council representative is the overriding concern in this case, according to Wozniak.

Making an appointment and then going through an election in March and then a second election in November was just too much, he said.

“If we don’t have to, I don’t see any reason to go through all those disruptive changes,” Wozniak said. “It probably takes at least 2 1/2 months to get up to speed on the job anyway, and by that time we’d be having the March election.

“I just don’t see the importance of making an appointment now,” he said.

Wozniak’s choice was not based on a lack of interest in the vacant seat. At least half a dozen residents, including former council members and several planning commissioners, have expressed interest in an appointment.

Former Planning Commissioner Mike Wesner called Lawrason within days of Montgomery’s resignation saying he would be willing to fill in. Other potential candidates include former Councilman Roy Talley and Moorpark Chamber of Commerce President Debbie Rodgers Teasley.

But at least half a dozen residents wrote letters to the city opposing the idea of appointments.

With a number of large controversial developments being considered by the city, Tim Kelly, who wrote a letter against an appointment, said the council should postpone any votes on important issues until a new member is elected.

He also said the council should be working hard to win back the trust of voters, which was damaged after Montgomery’s resignation. “In light of the cloud hanging over the city and the council, they should do it right and get somebody that’s been elected in there,” he said.

Several residents have also sent letters to Montgomery’s attorney in support of the ex-councilman, who will be sentenced Nov. 21. Wozniak said he also plans to drop the judge a line asking for leniency for Montgomery, who faces 3 1/2 years in jail and a $1,000 fine.