Camarillo Dispute : Group Votes Not to Recall 3 on Council

A Camarillo citizens’ committee voted Tuesday night against recalling a majority of the City Council, but five committee members announced minutes later that they had served recall notices on three council members earlier in the day.

The announcement prompted several of the 18 people at the meeting to denounce the action and resign from the 30-member Camarillo Committee of Concerned Citizens.

“My feeling is that there is apparently a subgroup with a hidden agenda,” said Bob Clausing, who favored the recall but objected to the recall papers having been served before the committee vote. “I think that some of them want to get on the council.”

Eight committee members voted for the recall and nine voted against. There was one abstention.

Marshall E. Dodson, vice chairman of the committee, said the papers were served because “it was a necessary decision to pursue the recall.”

2 Terms Expire in November

Dodson said he, Georgene Boyd, Robert Owen, John McHale and Jim Hauck served council members Charlotte Craven, Sandi Bush and Mayor Thomas S. Martin with the notices.

Council members F. Burrows Esty and Michael D. Morgan were not considered for recall because their terms expire in November, Dodson said.

The citizens’ committee was formed earlier this year in response to reports that Camarillo’s city treasurer had lost as much as $20 million in highly speculative investments last year.

An audit report released Monday by the national accounting firm of Arthur Andersen & Co. revealed that Camarillo lost nearly $25 million because of bad investments by City Treasurer Donald F. Tarnow, who was fired in January.

Tarnow had purchased more than $270 million in government securities on margin last year. The value of the securities plummeted when rising interest rates caused a fall in the bond market last spring, the report said.

Margin transactions involve purchasing securities by paying only a portion of their value. When market conditions are favorable, the bonds can be sold at a substantial profit without having to pay for them. But in Camarillo’s case, huge losses were suffered in the falling bond market.

Committee chairman Kevin Staker said the group believes that although Tarnow concealed his risky investment strategies, the City Council should have questioned the investments more closely.

But Staker said he is “very displeased” about the independent recall effort.

Council members said Tarnow hid the investment losses by keeping shoddy accounting records and preparing misleading monthly investment reports.

The committee earlier this month called for the resignation of City Manager Thomas Oglesby for failing to detect the investment losses earlier. The losses first came to light after city checks started bouncing in November.

Craven said Tuesday that the council plans to discuss Oglesby’s employment in a closed session at its meeting tonight.