Residents, Officials Divided Over Montgomery’s Impact on City Hall

As political falls go, the sentencing Wednesday of David Scott Montgomery was merely an anticlimax. Just a day in jail, immediately suspended. And three years’ probation.

But before his sentencing, Montgomery had already lost his job as a Moorpark city councilman. And he had also lost his court battle to reverse a guilty plea to conflict of interest charges.

As the final scene was played out, Moorpark residents and civic leaders remained divided over Montgomery’s controversial period in office--some seeing Montgomery as “everybody’s good neighbor” and others questioning his integrity.

The 42-year-old, self-employed financial consultant and struggling computer software developer had worked 10 years to develop a political base in the community and was looking beyond Moorpark for higher office.

From the moment he was appointed to the city’s Planning Commission in 1986, the youthful, square-jawed, trim and tan Montgomery grabbed the spotlight. He liked taking charge and injecting himself into the local political fray, Mayor Paul Lawrason said.

“Scott had his profile out there,” Lawrason said. “He was that kind of guy. He was no shrinking violet.”

In 1988, after just two years on the Planning Commission, Montgomery ran for a seat on the City Council and won. That step up the political ladder came in the midst of the city’s first political scandal.

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A Moorpark councilman, Danny Woolard, was sent to jail for embezzling $5,500 from the downtown post office where he worked. And the city’s mayor--Thomas C. “Bud” Ferguson--was recalled after being investigated on conflict of interest for allegedly trying to influence Woolard through a series of loans.

Montgomery, in one of his first political moves, helped get signatures on a petition for Ferguson’s recall.

On the council, Montgomery quickly became a dominant force, Lawrason said.

The eager young councilman was described by Lawrason as a great brainstormer who came up with innovative ways to deal with problems.

“Scott had good ideas and he wasn’t afraid to talk about them,” Lawrason said.

In one of his first moves, Montgomery weighed in on a fight with the school district.

The sticky issue, which still divides local leaders, ended with the city suing the district over the price of a piece of downtown property. The city lost, but not before spending several thousand dollars in attorney fees.

Because he made no bones about setting his sights on higher office and because he had a panache for claiming the spotlight, Montgomery turned off many would-be supporters, his fellow council members say.

School board member and former Moorpark City Councilman Clint Harper said Montgomery “had an ego the size of Mt. Everest.” And it was his ego that got in the way of his work on the council, Harper said.

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Harper had worked on Montgomery’s first City Council campaign, but slowly changed his mind about Montgomery while serving with him on the council.

“One of the first things he told me was that he wanted my chair because it was closer to the mayor’s,” Harper said.

The final straw for Harper came in 1990 after he and Montgomery had spent several months with residents working on an ordinance to control growth in the burgeoning city. On the eve of a City Council vote, Montgomery dropped his support of the measure, and the measure failed on a 3-2 vote, Harper said.

“I think after the meeting I went up to him and said, ‘You weasel,’ ” Harper said. “That really was the last straw. I just don’t think he should have ever been in public life.”

Montgomery declined to talk about any aspects of his political career for this article. But he still has many supporters who would like to see him back on the council.

Betty Lewis, 72, who lives in the city’s downtown, remembers how Montgomery defended her after city officials were balking at finishing a program to rehabilitate her home.

“He got up there and he yelled at them,” Lewis said proudly. “I can’t say enough good about him. He was our Scott. He was my No. 1 guy at City Hall.”

She still sends Montgomery, his wife Trisha and his two young children “Thinking of you” cards.

“What they’re saying about him is just wrong,” Lewis said. “He’s no crook, and I could name a few that are crooks. Just look at what we got in Washington, D.C.”

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Moorpark rancher Pete Peters also feels that Montgomery was railroaded.

“I’ve known Scott and Trish for 10 years,” he said. “I always liked Scott. I saw him as a very smart intellectual type, and a young guy with lots of push.”

Longtime friends also admired what they call Montgomery’s savvy political instincts.

Dan Schmidt, the former editor and publisher of the now defunct Moorpark Mirror newspaper, met Montgomery when the budding politician began a financial column for the paper.

Seeing eye-to-eye on a lot of issues, the two became fast friends and Schmidt later served as a campaign advisor and Montgomery’s personal attorney.

“Let’s just say that Scott was one of the few full-time City Council members,” he said. “He was available at home, immersed in the community. He’s a photogenic guy that people recognized. He was approachable, a young family man with a friendly face that people could talk to when they saw him at the supermarket or the gas station. He was truly everybody’s good neighbor.”

But for some, even in those early glory days, Montgomery’s star was tarnished with questions about his integrity.

Former Moorpark Councilman John Galloway, who in 1986 first got Montgomery involved in city politics, said he had been taken in.

“I nominated him to the Planning Commission and I regret it to this day,” Galloway said. Galloway said he had recommended Montgomery for the panel because of what he had heard about Montgomery’s impressive experience in financial matters.

Montgomery’s resume stated that he had a bachelor’s degree in business from Pepperdine University and had been a financial consultant to more than 750 cities on financial matters, Galloway said.

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“It turned out he . . . never actually got the degree,” Galloway said.

But it was Galloway who ended up dropping out of politics after he lost a reelection bid in 1988. Galloway watched from the sidelines while Montgomery took on more and more responsibility on the City Council, even assuming a chairmanship on the Ventura County Waste Commission.

In 1990, Montgomery became the first Moorpark councilman to be reelected after a full term, receiving the most votes of any council candidate.

Montgomery also parlayed his experience into serving on the city’s finance committee and spent hours poring over city budgets.

He had garnered a reputation of a man who was good with numbers. He was instrumental in 1993 and 1994 at putting together a city-brokered, $5.5-million land deal with a developer to build the rest of the large Mission Bell shopping and movie center complex along Los Angeles Avenue. The deal also resulted in the city creating its first downtown park.

While Montgomery was at the top of his political game, even starting a run for a seat on the Board of Supervisors, he was at the bottom professionally, forced to work delivering newspapers to make ends meet.

Montgomery was behind paying his property taxes and faced the possibility of losing his home, according to prosecutors. The small stipend he received for attending meetings to meet his City Council duties actually became an important source of income, some of his friends say.

“Scott is an enigma wrapped inside a conundrum,” Councilwoman Eloise Brown said with a laugh. “I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to understand him.

“I see how sad this all is for him,” Brown said. “But I feel a little bit betrayed, if indeed he did this, because I hate to see things like this happen to Moorpark. It’s such a neat little city.”

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Montgomery 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.

* 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.

* October 1995: Montgomery pleads guilty to one felony conflict of interest charge and one misdemeanor conflict of interest charge. He resigns from all positions.

* November 1995: Montgomery attempts to withdraw his guilty pleas, saying he was coerced and bullied into admitting to a crime he did not commit.

* December 1995: Montgomery is ordered to turn over campaign finance records to the Fair Political Practices Commission, which is conducting a separate inquiry.

* June 19, 1996: The last in a series of motions by Montgomery to withdraw his guilty pleas is denied for a final time.

* July 3, 1996: Montgomery is sentenced to one day in jail and three years’ probation. The day in jail is waived.