Rob McCoy reverses course, withdraws from race for Thousand Oaks City Council

Former Thousand Oaks City Councilman and Mayor Rob McCoy, a pastor who resigned from the council in 2020 over his defiant stance on coronavirus restrictions, has reversed course and will not run again for a seat in November after all.

McCoy, a political conservative, said in April he planned to seek election, saying, "I want to get back to serving this great city. I love this city."

Since then, however, "my wife Michelle and I have decided that I will not be running for City Council due to an increase in my work responsibilities and family demands," McCoy, 57, said in a text Monday.

Those factors would not "permit me to serve the citizens of Thousand Oaks in the manner they deserve, nor would I be able to provide the time needed to accomplish the responsibilities of the office properly," he said.

McCoy said he has agreed to oversee larger responsibilities for Arizona-based Turning Point Faith, a conservative Christian advocacy group.

"I'll be working with churches around the country as we're watching religious liberty being attacked," he said.

McCoy said that as much as he wanted to do that work and also be a councilman, it became apparent that there wouldn't be enough time for both.

He said the online vitriol aimed at him by left-leaning and progressive groups about his plans to run again weren't a factor in his decision.

"Not in the remotest," he said. "I get that every day."

One of McCoy's harshest critics, Jon Cummings, director of the progressive activist group Indivisible Conejo, said Monday he wasn't surprised that McCoy had decided not to run.

"What a shock," he quipped.

Referring to McCoy's 2020 resignation, Cummings said, "Rob has pulled out before, so it's hard to be surprised when he does it again."

Cummings said it never made sense to him for McCoy to run again.

Dismissed: County drops suit against Godspeak chapel over defiance of COVID-19 rules

Three council seats are up for election in November, those currently held by incumbents Bob Engler, Ed Jones and Claudia Bill-de la Peña. She who is running for the District 2 Ventura County supervisor's seat, and thus can't seek reelection to the council.

Engler and Jones have pulled papers to run again. As of Monday, four challengers have pulled papers too: Sharon McMahon, Kyle Rohrbach, Jeff Schwartz and Mikey Taylor.

McCoy was first elected to the City Council in 2015 in a special election to fill a vacancy. He was reelected in 2016 to a full four-year term.

Before he could fill out that term, however, he resigned in April 2020 after deciding to hold an in-person Communion service on Palm Sunday at Godspeak Calvary Chapel in violation of state and Ventura County public health orders. The orders restricted what they deemed to be "non-essential" activities, including church services.

McCoy is a pastor at the Newbury Park church.

Sheriff's deputies said church officials met guidelines by not allowing more than 10 people to gather inside. The church's decision to hold the in-person service at the height of the pandemic sparked controversy in the community, with many criticizing McCoy, but many others supporting him.

McCoy became embroiled in a legal dispute with Ventura County over his contention that the restrictions violated his First Amendment right to practice religion and to hold in-person services. He had an ally in Rabbi Michael Barclay of Temple Ner Simcha in Westlake Village.

The county sued McCoy and the chapel in August 2020 to stop the indoor worship services and a judge held both in contempt of court for refusing to do so.

The county dismissed the suit in April 2021 following the loosening of indoor restrictions under which churches could be open to up to 50% capacity.

McCoy said in April that he resigned his council seat because "I didn't want to burden the council with what I believed to be an issue pertinent to the freedom that needed to be defended," he said. "A critical component of the First Amendment."

Mike Harris covers the East County cities of Moorpark, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, as well as transportation countywide. You can contact him at mike.harris@vcstar.com or 805-437-0323.

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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Rob McCoy won't run for Thousand Oaks City Council in 2022