6 Seek Moorpark Council Seat Vacated by Woolard

Six candidates have filed to run in a June 2 election for a Moorpark City Council seat left vacant when former Councilman Danny Woolard was convicted in January of embezzlement.

Woolard pleaded guilty to stealing $5,500 from the Moorpark Post Office, where he was a clerk. That set off a chain reaction of disruptions in the political life of the normally quiet town, prompting Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury to open an investigation into alleged political corruption and misconduct.

Woolard, who is serving a six-month sentence in the federal prison at Lompoc, accused City Councilman Thomas C. (Bud) Ferguson of corruption. Ferguson, who denied Woolard’s allegations, stepped down as mayor earlier this month after a local newspaper printed an interview in which he twice used the word “nigger.”

One of the candidates for Woolard’s seat, Bernardo Perez, was appointed temporarily to the seat last month. Perez, 37, who previously served on the city’s Planning Commission, works for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

The other candidates running for the two remaining years of Woolard’s four-year term are:

John Patrick Lane, 39, who finished third in last November’s City Council race. Lane has worked for the Los Angeles Police Department for 16 years and is a supervisor in the personnel division.

William LaPerch, 63, former Planning Commission chairman. He is a rancher who also operates a Los Angeles executive-search firm. He ran unsuccessfully in November’s council election.

Tom Schleve, 40, a store owner and former planning commissioner. He also ran unsuccessfully for council in November.

Steve Bloch, 31, a real estate salesman and owner of a convenience store in Simi Valley. He has been a member of the Ventura County Drug Advisory Board and the Youth Employment Advisory Board.

Joseph Miller, 49, manager of a real estate office in Northridge.