Planning Official Named to Fill Vacancy on Moorpark Council

The Moorpark City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to appoint Planning Commissioner Bernardo M. Perez to fill a vacancy on the council until the city can hold a special election June 2.

Perez, 37, was selected from among 14 applicants for the four-month appointment to the seat vacated last month when Danny Woolard resigned.

Woolard quit the council the day after he pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing $5,500 from his drawer at the Moorpark Post Office, where he had worked as a clerk. Woolard, who said he stole the money to support a cocaine habit, alleged political corruption in the town. His accusations are being investigated by the Ventura County district attorney’s office.

Perez, a 17-year employee of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power who was appointed--by Woolard--to the Planning Commission just last December, predicted the city “will overcome this bad publicity.”

He said Wednesday that he had not decided whether to run for the remaining two years in the term.

Perez, who supported the strict growth-control ballot measure approved by city voters in November, said he wants to increase business downtown and to speed up construction of a freeway connection between the Moorpark and Simi Valley freeways.