Mission Viejo Ca Elections

These are the candidates running for the Mission Viejo City Council in the Nov. 6 election. Incumbents Christian W. Keena and Victoria C. Jaffe did not file for reelection. Robert Breton Age: 45 Occupation: Assistant state attorney general. Background: Planning commissioner, former chairman of municipal advisory committee. Issues: Wants to halt the divisive atmosphere among the City Council members. Ray Carolin Age: 42 Occupation: Marketing strategist.

Two years ago, in the most expensive political campaign in the city's 10-year history, fewer than 4,000 votes separated the winning three candidates in a seven-person race. This year, six candidates for two open seats plan to spend far less than the $130,000 collected for the 1994 campaign, but the competition may be just as heated.

Two incumbents on the Saddleback Valley Unified School District Board have said they plan to run a joint campaign in the November election. The decision by trustees Dore Gilbert and Bobbee Cline may be a preemptive strike in what is being viewed as a pivotal election to control power on the board. Two years ago, first-term trustees Debbie Hughes and Frank Ury teamed together and were elected, altering the board's complexion.

About $130,000 was raised last year in what was the most expensive November political campaign in city history, according to financial disclosure statements filed recently. Not only were the seven candidates successful in finding contributors, but they also dipped freely into their own pockets to finance their campaigns. More than $67,000 in self-loans was listed. The successful drive run by Councilman Lawrence H. Smith brought in the most money.

With three council seats available and two incumbents spurning another four-year term, the filing period for a suddenly wide-open City Council election opens Monday. Nomination papers can be submitted to the city clerk's office from that day through Aug. 12 at 5 p.m. The deadline will be extended to Aug. 17 if any of three incumbent council members decides not to run for reelection, as appears likely. Incumbent council members whose terms expire this year are Robert D.

Councilman Robert A. Curtis' unexpected decision to not run for a second term has given other potential candidates five extra days to file. However, no one has decided to join the candidates who have filed to enter the race. The filing deadline would have been Wednesday had Curtis decided to run for reelection. That leaves a relatively small field of seven people to run for two open council seats in November. The last city elections in 1990 drew 14 candidates for three council seats.

The leader of a successful drive to overturn plans for a new $18-million city hall announced his candidacy for City Council on Monday. Gary Manley, chairman of the Citizens Action Committee, wasted no time in attacking the council for what he called an irresponsible pattern of spending that he said could lead the city to bankruptcy in three years.

In a stunning turn of events, Councilman Robert A. Curtis, who survived one of the most expensive recall efforts in recent memory, announced Wednesday that he will not seek reelection. After serving five years as a councilman and mayor, Curtis said he now plans to devote his energies to his family and his career. "I've had the courage to make a difference in this city, and I have stood out because I have been willing to stand up for my principles," Curtis said.

Voters will get the chance to ensure that all future trash contracts are put to competitive bid as the City Council voted last week to put the issue on the November ballot. The ordinance would require waste companies to cover several emerging waste-disposal issues in their proposals, including recycling and public education programs. Trash contracts would be limited to five years and include a mandatory yearly review process.

When a judge invalidated a proposed ballot measure to require that any new city hall building be approved by voters, relieved city officials thought the decision was final. But Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Robert C. Jameson reversed himself, vacating his order that declared the proposed measure illegal. A lawsuit filed by the city against the authors of the initiative now starts over again in the pretrial phase.

Campaigning on a platform of financial responsibility in government, candidates predicting fiscal doom for South County's largest city have one big question to answer. If Mission Viejo is on shaky economic ground, why is $21 million sitting in city reserve accounts?

City Council candidates have so far reached deeply into their own pockets to fund their campaigns, according to candidate finance statements released last week. The biggest self-borrower: Larry Gilbert has loaned his campaign $6,450. He has vowed not to take contributions. Personal loans accounted for more than half of the campaign war chests reported by five of the seven candidates running for three open council seats in the November city election.

Just call them the Mission Viejo Dog PAC. Pet lovers have organized into a formal political action committee to protect the city's new $2.1-million animal shelter from City Council candidates who have spoken about dumping it if they're elected. Over the next few months, about 100 members of the Families for a Quality Mission Viejo will staff phone banks and walk precincts to save the state-of-the-art facility.

Two incumbents on the Saddleback Valley Unified School District Board have said they plan to run a joint campaign in the November election. The decision by trustees Dore Gilbert and Bobbee Cline may be a preemptive strike in what is being viewed as a pivotal election to control power on the board. Two years ago, first-term trustees Debbie Hughes and Frank Ury teamed together and were elected, altering the board's complexion.

Seven people have taken out candidacy papers so far for the November city elections, including the only incumbent expected to run for reelection, Mayor Susan Withrow. Tom Potocki was the first potential candidate to pick up papers last week, on the opening day of the filing period for city elections. Potocki, a board member on the El Toro Water District, was also one of the leaders of the Aegean Hills annexation drive.

With three council seats available and two incumbents spurning another four-year term, the filing period for a suddenly wide-open City Council election opens Monday. Nomination papers can be submitted to the city clerk's office from that day through Aug. 12 at 5 p.m. The deadline will be extended to Aug. 17 if any of three incumbent council members decides not to run for reelection, as appears likely. Incumbent council members whose terms expire this year are Robert D.

An attempt to put the city's plans for an $18-million civic center on a June advisory ballot has been harshly criticized by a citizens group. Citizens Action Committee officers, who have been gathering signatures for months to put the civic center to a binding public vote, this week angrily denounced Councilman Robert A. Curtis' version of the ballot measure as deceptive.

After winning a court battle earlier this month over the right to build a city hall without voter approval, the City Council has decided to put the issue on the November ballot after all. Voters will have a chance to decide whether the city must hold an election before final approval of a city hall building. However, the November measure is advisory and the council would have the last word on city hall plans.

City Council candidate Gary Manley, the council's harshest critic when it comes to spending, had his own financial problems in the 1980s. While his opponents say his past financial problems raise questions about his ability to oversee the city's $29-million annual budget, Manley said his past makes him uniquely qualified. "People are struggling now; times are hard," said Manley, who declared bankruptcy in 1984 after losing up to $1 million for dozens of investors.

Candidates for City Council have made city spending the election's main issue, and a proposed $5-million bond issue for a new library has become central to their campaign debates. Even though Mission Viejo voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed $18-million City Hall project four months ago, library backers are not discouraged about their chances for passing a bond measure Nov. 3, which requires a two-thirds majority.