Mueller Brings in $1,450, Tops Agoura Election Fund Raising

Agoura Hills City Council candidates are raising funds in modest amounts, according to campaign finance reports filed Thursday, a month after a nonprofit watchdog group warned that spending on city elections threatened to run out of control.

The disclosure statements, which showed no candidate receiving more than $1,450, indicated that Mayor Darlene McBane may have been right last month when she said that the town’s major political battle had been fought to a conclusion earlier this year between four council members and backers of a failed recall drive that spent $18,000.

McBane and fellow incumbents Jack W. Koenig and Fran Pavley are seeking reelection in the at-large Nov. 7 election. There are three challengers: businessmen Paul. G. (Gary) Mueller and Ed Kurtz, and securities salesman Barry S. Steinhardt.

Mueller led the pack in fund raising with $1,450, according to the reports. Pavley was second with $1,277.50. Kurtz raised $1,175, Steinhardt raised $1,125 and McBane $755.

Koenig reported raising no money at all. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Last month, the California Commission on Campaign Financing concluded a study of election funding in nine Los Angeles-area jurisdictions, including Agoura Hills.

Pointing to the city’s tumultuous 1985 election, in which one candidate spent $18,000, the bipartisan group of business and legal leaders said contributions from real estate and development interests create the potential for expensive campaigns that could stifle candidates without major financial backing.

Development was a major issue in the attempted recall earlier this year of McBane, Pavley and two council members not up for reelection in November--Vicky Leary and Louise C. Rishoff. Recall backers, who failed to gather enough petition signatures to force a special election, did not field a candidate for the fall general election.

In neighboring Westlake Village, incumbents Bonnie Klove and Irwin A. Shane are seeking reelection. Mayor Franklin D. Pelletier declined to run. Four challengers entered the race: former City Manager James E. Emmons, vocational teacher Sybil Nisenholz, California Highway Patrol office manager Joanne E. Robinson and computer executive Douglas R. Yarrow.

Klove has raised the most money, $3,213, including a $1,000 loan from herself.

Emmons raised $2,825, including a $1,000 loan from his property management company. Yarrow raised $2,303, while Nisenholz raised $1,558. Shane’s total of $1,605 included a $1,000 loan from himself. Robinson reported that she planned to spend less than $1,000 on her campaign.