Couple May Vie for Same Council Seat : Politics: Dee and Roy Talley of Moorpark are considering running in a March special election.

Any tough-minded political consultant will tell prospective candidates to get to know their opponents--know their strengths and be ready to exploit their weaknesses.

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After more than 17 years of marriage, Dee and Roy Talley definitely know each other. Now they are considering taking their sometimes heated dinner table discussions public and running against each other for a seat on the Moorpark City Council.

“He sees red, I see blue. He looks up, I look down,” said Dee, 47. “We’re different.”

Roy, also 47, who has served on the council before and narrowly lost reelection four years ago, said he was not fazed by the prospect of facing his wife in an election.

“I’ve tried to encourage her,” he said. “If this is what she wants to do, she has a constitutional right to do it. Dee speaks for herself.”

Friends and family seem to be trying to wave the couple away from throwing two hats into the ring.

“I just think that they should talk about it a little more,” said Jim Newton, a Moorpark property manager who has known them both for more than 25 years. “They should figure out who has the most experience and support and let that one run. Otherwise they’ll split the vote.”

As the Dec. 29 filing date nears for the March special election, the couple said they are trying to hash out whether to run.

The idea first came to them in October, when Moorpark Councilman Scott Montgomery resigned his seat and pleaded guilty to a felony conflict-of-interest charge. Montgomery acknowledged having accepted a $3,500 loan from a trash company executive and then voting on the company’s contract.

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But if they run in March, they will have to go head to head and the winner would be able to serve only the remainder of Montgomery’s term, which expires in November, 1996. If one or both wait until November, there will be three seats up for grabs--and, theoretically, both could be winners.

It’s a tough decision, Dee said. And with plenty of people pushing both of them to run, she said, it was a “a very good possibility” that they would. They both want to serve on the council very badly, she said.

When the post came open, they both jumped at the chance independently.

“It was so spontaneous,” Dee said. “We pretty much said it at the same time. And we were surprised that so many people out there were pushing us both to run.”

Each has developed a network of supporters and powerful friends through decades of experience working for such community groups as the Boy & Girls Club, the Kiwanis Club and the Jaycees.

Dee worked for many years with J.C. Penney, but quit about 10 years ago because of a back injury. Roy manages a small electronics firm in Hollywood.

“You see we both can get the support and we both have the experience,” Dee said.

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Although unusual, husbands and wives have run for the same positions before, it’s just that they haven’t done too well.

Several couples in Orange County tried in the early 1990s but failed to win seats on various school boards, and in 1992 a husband and wife in La Palma ran for seats on that City Council but lost.

“But I don’t think we would lack support,” Dee said. “We’ve both got a lot of support, and I don’t think financing would be a problem. I think what’s important is the momentum.”

This is the point where the equally conservative couple start diverging, where their differences become apparent. For Dee the difference is “a matter of style more than substance.”

Much more demonstrative and outgoing, Dee seems confident that she could generate more momentum. And Roy is willing to give her that point.

“She has one thing the council needs, that I can’t bring to it--a woman’s point of view, “ he said. “A lot of people out there want a viable woman candidate that can handle the job, and I think there really are only a few out there besides Dee who could do it.”

At the same time, he bristled a bit when Dee started to criticize his style during the time he served on the council, telling him he had not been vocal enough during meetings.

Roy retorted that, unlike some other council members who shall remain nameless, he had not felt the necessity to brag about his accomplishments when he was sitting on the council.

If they both run, what seems to be the biggest challenge for the couple is to differentiate themselves for voters.

Both say they are fiscal conservatives who believe the city should encourage limited growth. The key difference is one of style: Dee is outspoken and less willing to compromise, while Roy is low-key and willing to make deals.

Asked what would happen if they wind up on the council and facing each other down on an issue, she said they could handle it.

“That’s what the cot in the garage is for,” she said.