Measure D Showdown Shaping Up in Irvine

For the second time in a week, a Superior Court commissioner on Tuesday refused to bar tonight’s scheduled swearing-in of Irvine City Councilman-elect Cameron Cosgrove.

Commissioner Julian Cimbaluk’s ruling sets the stage for a showdown tonight between a pro-Cosgrove council majority and supporters of a special election that would be held to fill the seat Cosgrove is claiming.

The issue became mired in more controversy last Friday when state officials validated the June 7 citywide vote in favor of Measure D, a city charter amendment that allows citizens to petition for a special election to fill seats left vacant when a council member is elevated to mayor. Without Measure D, the unexpired term would go to the first runner-up in the regular council races--in this case, Cosgrove, who would fill the two years remaining on Councilman Larry Agran’s term. Agran is starting a new, four-year term as the city’s first elected mayor.

Cosgrove’s supporters--among them Agran--had thought the secretary of state’s office would not be able to validate the June 7 results on Measure D until after Cosgrove had already been sworn in tonight.

But the secretary of state’s quick action on Friday led City Atty. Roger A. Grable to conclude that Measure D now prevents Cosgrove from taking office tonight.

Instead, Grable says, a petition drive led by Councilwoman Sally Ann Miller will require an election, probably in November, to fill Agran’s seat.

“I’m delighted, I’m happy,” Miller said Tuesday in reference to Measure D’s certification. “I have nothing against Cameron Cosgrove. (He) now has the opportunity to get elected in November.”

Cosgrove could not be reached for comment Tuesday. But Agran, a political ally, said that Cosgrove had expected to be sworn in tonight.

“There’s little doubt in my mind that he will be seated on the council,” Agran continued. “The question is how and when.”

The outcome of last month’s council race has ignited a major political battle in Irvine, pitting Miller and her supporters against those of Agran and Cosgrove. Miller finished second, and only 106 votes ahead of Cosgrove, in the race for two council seats.

Tuesday, Miller’s supporters filed suit, asking for an order barring Cosgrove’s swearing-in. But, as he did in a similar case last week, Cimbaluk denied the request.

Officials said it is now up to the City Council to decide whether to seat Cosgrove tonight or to call the special election as Measure D requires and as City Atty. Grable is recommending.

When asked how he thought the council would act, Agran replied: “We’ll have to accept responsibility for the matter. . . . In the end, we’ll have to exercise our own best judgment.” He added that the council may “refer the matter to the courts for an early resolution.”

Miller and her supporters have charged that a council majority deliberately delayed certification of the June election results, making it less likely that state officials could certify Measure D before Cosgrove took office. And Cosgrove’s supporters have claimed that fraud occurred during Miller’s petition drive.

Moreover, the two sides disagree on whether Measure D was even supposed to apply to the June council vacancy or only to future instances in which a councilman is elevated to the mayor’s post.