Agoura Hills Open-Space Measure Opens Up Big Early Lead

A ballot measure to preserve open space was leading by a wide margin in early returns in Agoura Hills, where Mayor Dan Kuperberg and Councilwoman Louise Rishoff were facing a write-in candidate in their bids for reelection.

In Palmdale, absentee ballots had Kevin W. Carney and Mike Dispenza leading a field of 13 candidates for two four-year terms on the City Council.

Carney, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s sergeant, was arrested last week on suspicion of molesting a 14-year-old girl. Supporters and opponents alike had predicted the arrest would probably doom Carney’s chances. Carney, a 23-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, was once a supervisor of the sheriff’s child-abuse investigations unit.

Incumbent James Ledford Jr. was leading a field of four candidates for Palmdale mayor. And R.I. Penner and David L. Collin were locked in a close race for a two-year term on the Palmdale City Council, leading four other candidates.

In Westlake Village, early returns showed Mayor Betty De Santis the top vote-getter among three candidates vying for two open seats. Councilman James B. Henderson and challenger Chris Mann were battling for the other spot.

If approved, the Agoura Hills ballot measure will require two-thirds of voters to approve any attempts to change the designation of land presently classified open space.

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About 40% of the city is designated open space, and much of the remaining flatland has been developed, said Rishoff, a council member since 1987 and a private attorney who works in Woodland Hills.

Proponents called Measure B a way to preserve open space by stripping the council’s power over the issue. Currently, land-designation decisions are made by a council majority of three votes.

The present council unanimously endorsed the measure, however. Rishoff said council members knew the measure was something residents had long wanted in the city of 21,800.

One of the main reasons Agoura Hills incorporated in 1982 was because Los Angeles County was allowing too much growth, said Rishoff, 57.

The two incumbents were challenged by write-in candidate Kenneth Horton. Election officials said they would not count the write-in ballots until later this week, making it unclear Tuesday who would win the two open seats.

“I ran because no one else was running. I believe strongly in the democratic process,” said Horton, director of financial aid and business development at New Horizons Computer Learning Center in Westlake Village. “There were issues and they needed to be brought out.”

Kuperberg, a Los Angeles County deputy public defender, said he has been effective garnering support from state and federal legislators for city improvements. He said he helped get a $1-million grant for the Calabasas/Agoura Hills community center, which is scheduled to open Dec. 11.

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In Westlake Village, the candidates agreed the city needs a new hospital with an emergency room nearby.

In 1996, Westlake Medical Center closed. For about a year the city has had an urgent care center, which can treat some serious injuries, such as fractures and burns, but not life-threatening conditions.

For emergency care, city residents must drive to Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks or Columbia West Hills Medical Center.

Those distances are too far, argued the lone challenger in the race, Mann. He is a child behavior specialist at Casa Pacifica, a residential and shelter facility for at-risk youth in Camarillo.

Henderson, 84, has served four years on the City Council.

Mayor De Santis, 65, a retired nurse educator who has also served four years on the council, said it would cost the city about $10 million--double its annual operating budget--to buy the hospital property. That would be too much for a city with only 8,500 residents to pay, she said.

According to De Santis, in August a regional council of governments, of which Westlake Village is a member, began discussing how several cities could pitch in to buy land and lease it to a company for a regional hospital.