Mayor’s Walkout Stuns Council

Calabasas City Council members said Thursday they were still trying to understand why Mayor Janice Lee had abruptly resigned from the panel during a meeting the night before.

The council had just tackled its first agenda item Wednesday when an agitated Lee announced she was quitting and stormed out the door.

“It was a shock the way she did it,” Councilwoman Lesley Devine said. “One big explosion no one expected.”

Lee, who could not be reached for comment, won her council seat in March 1999. The largely ceremonial mayor’s job rotates among the council members.

On Wednesday, Lee had barely opened the council session when Councilmen Michael Harrison and Dennis Washburn got into a heated discussion over a BMW dealership. The exchange seemed to upset Lee, who promptly announced her resignation and left.

“We never saw her again, and I doubt we ever will,” Harrison said Thursday.

Harrison had suggested Washburn may have created an “appearance of bias” by obtaining a customer list from a Canoga Park BMW dealership, which was seeking city approval to relocate to Calabasas. A losing candidate in a recent council election had used the list for political mailings.

Tim Smith, co-owner of Bob Smith BMW, said Lee appeared to want to end the discussion, but was unable to control her colleagues.

“I felt terrible for her,” Smith said of Lee’s decision to quit. “It was a sad experience.”

The council voted 4 to 0 Wednesday--after Lee had left--to approve the dealership’s plans to move to the city.

Calabasas City Clerk Robin Parker said Lee, who owns a dove rental service called Birds on High, had not submitted a formal resignation letter as of the close of business Thursday.

But Parker said the Aug. 1 council agenda will include the question of what to do with the remainder of Lee’s term, which ends in March 2003. The council, she said, has 30 days to declare a special election or appoint someone to the seat.

“We were all stunned and speechless,” Harrison said of Lee’s departure.