COUNCIL RE-ELECTS DARCY; SANTA CLARITA APPOINTMENT WAS ITS FIRST DISPUTED MAYORAL VOTE.

Byline: Angela M. Lemire Staff Writer

The City Council has granted Jo Anne Darcy her fourth appointment as mayor after rejecting a bid by Councilwoman Jill Klajic for the year-long post.

Two separate 3-2 votes - appointing Darcy to another term as mayor and Councilwoman Laurene Weste as mayor pro tem - drew heated and emotionally charged remarks from the audience and the council, plus allegations of back-room politics overshadowing the city of Santa Clarita's 12th anniversary celebration.

After taking her oath of office, Darcy - who served three previous terms as mayor and is a 12-year City Council veteran - clipped her remarks because she had not prepared an acceptance speech. But she said she intended to prioritize road construction and increased recreation programs in the coming year.

``We will go after any money available this year to continue building our roads, which are badly needed. And we hope to continue increasing our parks programs, which grew by 30 percent last year,'' Darcy said following her controversial reappointment, which was supported by Weste and Councilman Frank Ferry.

Councilwoman Jan Heidt dissented, along with Klajic, after Heidt's substitute motion to appoint Klajic as mayor failed 2-3. Another motion by Heidt to reappoint Klajic as mayor pro tem also failed 2-3.

Tuesday's vote was the first contested mayoral appointment in the city's history.

Past councils had ceremonially voted 5-0 to appoint new mayors to one-year terms, based on rotation orders set by tenure. But the City Council last spring voted to change that policy so members could exercise discretion based on candidates' qualifications.

Prior to the reorganization of leadership Tuesday, Klajic had served two nonconsecutive council terms, a one-year turn as mayor in 1993 and had served as mayor pro tem throughout 1999. Ferry and Weste each are serving their first terms, and Darcy and Heidt each had three turns as mayor.

Although Ferry and Weste also voted against Klajic twice, Darcy's dissenting swing vote garnered the most criticism from several Klajic supporters who argued for her rightful turn as mayor.

Klajic later said she believes she was passed over as a cumulative result of her outspokenness against development.

``I think Jo Anne blackened the eye of the city today. She disgraced the whole system,'' Klajic said and speculated that Darcy bowed to pressure from pro-growth factions. ``(Darcy, Ferry and Weste) certainly wouldn't want a slow-growth advocate speaking for them.''

But Darcy maintains she abided by the council's decision last spring to make mayoral appointments based on qualifications, not custom.

Darcy - who plans to retire from politics after her fourth term ends in 2002 - had resolved not to seek a consecutive mayoral run. She reconsidered over the weekend, she said, after receiving numerous phone calls from constituents with differing opinions on Klajic becoming mayor, as well as supporters urging her to stay on.

Darcy said she doubted whether Klajic would have been able to represent the council's views to the public with no bias. ``Whether we agree on issues or not, the mayor has to carry out the wishes of the majority,'' said Darcy.

She added, ``I'm certainly not criticizing Jill's performance as a councilwoman or when she was mayor. She's done an excellent job . . . But there's another consideration that this position is almost a full-time job and needs somebody to be on call locally. You need somebody who can be accessible.''

Darcy works at the City Hall complex in Valencia as field deputy to Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich and plans to retire in April. Klajic works in Reseda for the Hantel Corp.

Klajic said she is undecided about whether she will seek re-election in the April 11 municipal election but indicated she is ``leaning toward a no.'' Her final decision, she said, will be based on personal considerations, not the outcome of the mayoral vote.

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PHOTO (ran in SAC edition only) Jo Anne Darcy - Wins new term