Residents can vote in June for new council member

After several weeks of debate, officials decided not to make a controversial change that could have stripped the rights of voters in Moorpark.

Citizens will have the opportunity to select a new leader during a special election next June.

Wednesday's decision cancels out a majority vote that was cast last week to repeal an ordinance that requires a public vote to fill an anticipated vacancy created by Councilmember Janice Parvin when she's sworn is as mayor in December.

The ordinance required two readings to pass. The first reading passed with a narrow margin last week but the second attempt to finalize the proposal failed this week.

Parvin is running for mayor unopposed. Her term on the Council expires in November 2010.

Moorpark law currently requires the City Council to appoint an interim person to the dais within 30 days of the vacancy occurring. Then a special election must be called at the first available opportunity to give residents the chance to select a new representative. That election will take place in June and cost an estimated $100,000.

Some city leaders wanted to repeal the law to give future councils the option to choose whether they should appoint someone to fill vacancies, or call for a special election.

However, Mayor Patrick Hunter and Councilmember Roseann Mikos didn't agree with the decision to change existing rules. They were concerned that constitutional rights would be taken away from citizens if the council were allowed to appoint a person to the dais for a lengthy period.

A majority of speakers who attended the meeting this week and residents who made written comments on the subject strongly opposed the proposal as well.

"The citizens' right to vote is something that has been fought over and died for. . . . it's a constitutional right," said a speaker at the meeting. Some pointed to the war in Iraq where more than 4,000 American soldiers have died thus far to give Iraqi citizens the right to vote.

After hearing compelling arguments for about an hour, city leaders dropped the proposal that may have affected local voting rights.

"I'm very happy for the citizens of Moorpark," said Mikos, who fought against the proposal from the get go.

"There are clearly two things that distinguish democracy. One is the right to vote, and the right to debate the right to vote," said Hunter.

"As long as I'm mayor, I'll defend to the death your right to vote," he said, adding that people didn't give officials the right to select their colleagues.

"Furthermore," Hunter said, "the city can well afford to spend $100,000 on a special election."

Councilmembers Keith Millhouse, Mark Van Dam and Parvin—who initially wanted to repeal the existing ordinance—acquiesced.

"The right to vote is incredibly important," said Millhouse. "It's time to go back and revisit the ordinance, but not right now. Changing midstream sends the wrong message to voters," he said.

Parvin agreed. "Since residents are very willing to spend the money on an election, I will support it," she said.

Van Dam still had reservations but he agreed with the majority. The idea to repeal the ordinance was not a matter of taking people's vote away to save money, he said.

"The ordinance was established 20 years ago, and anything that old in our city needs to be reevaluated," he said.

Van Dam was also concerned that few people go to the polls during special elections. Only 2,000 residents voted in a special school board election that took place in the past, he said.

"That is not necessarily truly the voice of the people," Van Dam concluded.