NEWS ANALYSIS : Some Say Amburgey Was His Own Worst Enemy : The Costa Mesa city councilman’s combative, often inflexible stance, which had worked for him in the past, probably cost him this election.

COSTA MESA —  Incumbent Orville Amburgey went into Tuesday’s City Council election with the largest war chest of any candidate, with a savvy campaign adviser, name recognition, a reputation for not backing down on issues and an almost unshakable confidence.

When it was over, however, he had lost his council seat, running fourth out of five candidates. And the community support that he had always claimed to have despite his often controversial views seemed suddenly to have vanished.

Amburgey blamed the media for his poor showing, claiming that articles published just before the election turned the tide against him.

“I don’t need to defend any of my actions,” Amburgey said. “The response I have got from the public has been supportive. I’m not a politician, and my actions have never depended on public opinion. I do what I think is right.”

But many longtime city watchers said Tuesday’s outcome was a predictable ending for a man who lacked the political astuteness to last for more than one term.

Paradoxically, Amburgey’s combative, often inflexible stance--which helped get him elected four years ago--probably cost him this time around.

Then, Amburgey was an unknown political factor, and his stubbornness may have given the appearance of decisive leadership. In practice, though, it translated into what observers saw as an unwillingness to compromise and to work with colleagues.

Some post-election analysts also believe that Costa Mesa voters decided they could do without Amburgey, who was willing to risk city funds in confronting a Cabinet member and who claimed a right to vote on any project before the council, even if it involved his son or his private electrical business--now the target of conflict-of-interest charges and a district attorney’s investigation.

“In this case the negatives overwhelmed the money and name recognition,” said former City Councilman Dave Wheeler, now an attorney practicing in Newport Beach. “Orv was never particularly bright or politically savvy, and he kind of behaved like a bull in a china shop.”

The outspoken councilman’s method of operation proved a source of discomfort even for supporters.

“Orv has very strong ideas, but for whatever reason he tried to steam roll over people instead of trying to work with them,” said former Mayor Ed McFarland, who supported Amburgey in 1986 but not this year.

“The problem was in how he accomplished his goals more than the goals themselves, I think. I didn’t go to a lot of council meetings, but I watched them all on (cable) television, and I think a lot of other people do, too. They looked and saw the way he was treating people up there, and they didn’t like it.”

Added Wheeler: “He acted with utter arrogance. . . . When you act with utter contempt of constituents in favor of your own personal interest or aggrandizement--like he did in voting for his kid’s (construction business) project. . . it leaves a bad taste.”

Amburgey has been deflecting conflict-of-interest charges on his voting record almost since he assumed office. A former police officer with extensive business ties in the community, he received major backing from development concerns in 1986 as well as this time around.

C.J. Segerstrom & Sons; Triangle Square; Metro Point; Robert Zeimer, manager of Henry and Harry’s Goat Hill Tavern; the Newport Animal Hospital, and Amburgey-Carich Construction (owned by Amburgey’s son, Ron)--all were campaign contributors, and all had projects before the council at one time or another.

“The line is that Orv never met a project he didn’t like,” said one current city employee who requested anonymity. “Even if there may have been no wrongdoing involved, Orv never even worried about the appearance of impropriety.”

Last month, the city attorney in a report accused Amburgey of violating state conflict-of-interest laws when he voted on two occasions to approve agreements with a cable company his electrical firm was doing business with.

The charges were turned over to the district attorney’s office for investigation.

Amburgey has denied any wrongdoing and has charged that the city attorney’s report and its timing were politically motivated.

McFarland for one says Amburgey merely exposed his political naivete by refusing to recognize how his action might appear to the average citizen.

McFarland also believes that Amburgey never had the community support that he claimed for controversial actions aimed against undocumented immigrants and the poor.

Amburgey was accused in many quarters of the community--and nation--with pandering to racist sentiments when he sponsored unprecedented measures, one against soliciting work on city streets and another that denied city grant money to charities unless they pledged not to assist undocumented residents. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp called the anti-alien funding policy discriminatory and un-American.

Amburgey promptly embarked on a running personal feud with Kemp that many saw as another example of unnecessary defiance--one that cast the city in an unfavorable light.

Candidates Jay Humphrey and Karen McGlinn (one of whom will claim the second council seat after a count of absentee ballots), both have said they might be willing to undo some of the Amburgey-sponsored measures should the council consider them again.

Many observers see Tuesday’s vote as a mandate for change in the city--change that many feel had already begun to take shape even before the election in response to Amburgey and his supporters.

For example, Dalia Badajos, a businesswoman and member of Latinos for Costa Mesa, which began meeting last summer, said the simple fact that the group had formed may have had an impact on the outcome of the election by making people aware that there were other opinions out there that didn’t necessarily coincide with Amburgey’s.

“The fact that the group was organized made people aware that there are issues that need to be dealt with,” she said. “Even his longtime friends and supporters were no longer supporting him, and that is what our group is all about.”

The group had endorsed McGlinn and Humphrey, and some members helped their campaigns by posting signs and passing out literature.

Times correspondent Mary Anne Perez contributed to this report.