Judge Orders Stratton Out of Auditor’s Race : Campaign: Simi mayor will appeal ruling that he is unqualified because his degree isn’t from accounting school.

Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton lacks the credentials required by state law to be a candidate for county auditor, a Superior Court judge ruled Monday as he ordered Stratton’s name stricken from the June primary ballot.

Judge William L. Peck ruled that Stratton’s master’s degree in business administration from Cal Lutheran University does not qualify him for the job because it was not earned at an accounting school.

Peck gave Stratton until 5 p.m. today to appeal the decision to the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Ventura, and Stratton said he would challenge Peck’s decision.

The vow to appeal delayed the county’s plan to begin printing sample ballots Monday, officials said.

Monday’s hearing resulted from a lawsuit to disqualify Stratton filed by William Baker, a certified public accountant and one of five other candidates for the auditor-controller’s post.

“I’m very happy with the outcome,” Baker said outside the courtroom. “I think it brings to light the fact that he has a very light accountancy background.”

To qualify for county auditor, a candidate must either be a certified public accountant, have served as county auditor-controller or deputy auditor-controller for at least three years, or possess a certificate or diploma from a school of accountancy.

Because there are no schools of accountancy in California, Stratton said he believes his master’s degree in business administration--including 14 units in accounting--qualifies him for the position.

Stratton, who supervises the software department at Teledyne Systems in Chatsworth, expressed disappointment in the judge’s ruling but said he is confident he will prevail on appeal. “The judge took a very narrow view of the law,” the Simi Valley mayor said. “He did rule my degree was equivalent, but he said equivalency wasn’t good enough.”

Stratton’s attorney, Robert O. Huber of Simi Valley, said he still believes the state elections law allows candidates with his client’s educational background to seek the auditor-controller’s job.

He also said he wishes Peck “would have erred on the side of democracy.”

Elections officials, who urged Peck to give a definitive ruling Monday, were frustrated by the delay the appeal promises to cause. A lawyer representing the county said officials needed to start printing sample ballots by Monday to meet a state-mandated deadline for mailing samples to voters.

For the June 7 election, voting officials are required by law to mail sample ballots to the county’s 350,000 voters between April 28 and May 16, according to court papers.

Now, election authorities will have to put their printing on hold until after the issue is resolved, said Robert R. Orellana, assistant county counsel.

“Our position was that we needed the decision, but we will not get it today,” Orellana said. “The printers’ deadline is today. That’s why we asked the court to make a ruling today.”

Other candidates for auditor-controller include incumbent Thomas O. Mahon, who was appointed by the Board of Supervisors last year after serving 20 years as assistant controller.

“I’m pleased,” Mahon said of the decision. “It eliminates a strong candidate. But I know Greg Stratton must be disappointed. He has put a lot into this. It benefits me, but I feel sorry for him.”

Other candidates are accountants Scott Weiss of Ventura, Richard Morrisset of Ventura and Clifford Wigen of Simi Valley.

Weiss said he had hoped to have the issue resolved Monday. “But I think the court made the right decision in that Stratton is not qualified,” he said.

Diane Rowley, Baker’s attorney, called Peck’s decision appropriate.

“He wants to have a second opinion,” she said.

“I don’t think he’s qualified,” she said of Stratton. “That’s not to say he wouldn’t make a great auditor-controller.”

Stratton said the issue should be resolved in a civil trial after the election.

“The (appeal) court, we hope, will understand that this is the wrong time to have that trial,” he said.

He said he did not think Baker’s suit would be successful.

“We were aware that this was an issue,” Stratton said. “But I guess we just never expected a very narrow interpretation of the law.”

His attorney, Huber, added: “I’m very hopeful we will have an appellate court overturn this.”

Times staff writer Tina Daunt contributed to this story.