Westlake Village : Group Raises $5,000 to Fight Recall Drive

An organization formed to support two embattled Westlake Village City Council members raised more than $5,000 in donations in September, according to financial statements filed with the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission.

As a political committee, Citizens Against Recall is required to file financial statements on a quarterly basis. The group was formed early in September to prevent the recall of Kris Carraway and Doug Yarrow.

In the last reporting period, which ended Sept. 30, the organization reported $4,609 in cash contributions and $400 in non-monetary contributions, said Don Robinson, chairman of the organization.

Groups are required to file statements officially designating themselves as political organizations within 10 days after receiving $1,000, Westlake Village City Clerk Laura Johnson said. The group that started the recall drive, Westlake Village Residents Opposing Non-Responsive Government, filed its statement Oct. 19, so it has until Jan. 31 to file its financial statement.

The group began the recall attempt after the two council members voted in April to approve a controversial Price-Costco store in the city. Mayor Kenneth Rufener and Councilwoman Berniece Bennett, who also voted to approve the store, were not targeted because they are not seeking reelection. Councilman James Emmons abstained from voting because he manages a retail center across the street from the site of the planned Price-Costco outlet.

The recall group has until Dec. 18 to collect 1,267 signatures--25% of the city’s registered voters--against Yarrow, Johnson said. It has until Jan. 4 to collect the same number of signatures against Carraway.

Price-Costco plans to build a 136,000-square-foot store in a 296,000-square-foot shopping center at Lindero Canyon Road and Thousand Oaks Boulevard. It is part of the Westlake North Specific Plan, approved in 1989, which allows for 1.4 million square feet of commercial buildings and condominiums on a 130-acre tract just north of the Ventura Freeway.