GADFLY ARRESTED ON SUSPICION OF TELEPHONE THREAT.

Byline: Stacy Brown Daily News Staff Writer

A 71-year-old City Council gadfly has been arrested on suspicion of making a threatening phone call to Councilwoman Jill Klajic, authorities said Thursday.

John Steffen was arrested outside his Saugus home late Wednesday after the councilwoman came into the sheriff's station with the recording of a call she received on her telephone answering machine, officials said.

``(Steffen) made the statement that Klajic should call him before he got a gun,'' Los Angeles County sheriff's Detective John Bomben said.

Steffen is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Authorities were still gathering information about the incident and were unsure what had triggered Steffen's call. ``I interviewed him and it's a real complex story that he has,'' Bomben said.

Klajic said she has known Steffen for six years and has heard through acquaintances that he hadn't intended to frighten her.

``I think he just needed to calm down,'' Klajic said. ``There were some issues that upset him. He's a very active activist in the community.''

Klajic has had other problems during her eight-year tenure on the council.

In 1990, two anonymous mailings were sent to the Klajic, a vocal slow-growth advocate. One letter accused Klajic of immoral and unethical behavior and the other contained documents relating to a bankruptcy case involving a company she and her husband owned.

Three years later, Klajic reported that her home had been twice vandalized, with her personal belongings and papers ransacked while she attended a council meeting on the budget. No arrest ever was made.