No Special Election: Council to Appoint Doane Replacement

Council members indicated this week that they will fill a vacancy on the City Council by appointment rather than by special election.

Councilman Bill Doane quit last month in reaction to the election of slow-growth candidate Patty Campbell, a planning commissioner who voted against the Bixby Ranch Co.’s proposed 223-home residential and commercial development. Campbell ran against attorney Phillip Fife, a Bixby supporter who was backed by Doane.

Campbell succeeds incumbent Frank Laszlo, who is stepping down because of term limits.

After Campbell’s election, Doane said his goal of bringing revenue-producing developments to the city was “a lost cause” in light of the slow-growth majority on the council.

Council members on Monday set an April 22 deadline for accepting “letters of intent” from residents interested in serving the remaining two years of Doane’s term.

In contrast to the fierce animosity between supporters of Campbell and Fife, the city’s other election battle between incumbent Councilman George Brown and unsuccessful challenger Jeff Christ was amicable. The candidates got along so well that Brown on Monday appointed Christ to fill a vacancy on the city’s Environmental Quality Control Board.

“He’s a good man,” Brown said of Christ, a 46-year-old Los Angeles Police Department narcotics detective. “The city benefits when you have good people who want to get involved.”

Christ returned the compliment: “I got a lot of things out of this campaign, including new friends and Mr. Brown is one of them. Everybody wants to do the best for their community, and I don’t think personal attacks are the way to do it.”