Tustin Ca Elections

The City Council this week set up a competition between November ballot measures designed to limit council members' terms in office. By a 3-2 vote, the council agreed to offer voters a three-term limit measure as an alternative to the two-term limit it had placed on the Nov. 8 ballot last month. The limits in both measures apply only to consecutive terms. Mayor Thomas R. Saltarelli, Councilman Jeffrey Thomas and Councilwoman Tracy Worley voted Tuesday night to place the new option before voters.

In this city, just knowing when to show up may be the most confusing part of voting in a municipal election. City leaders in the past decade have changed Tustin's election dates several times--from its own date in April to consolidation with the state's primary in March, back again, and (for now) to November 1998.

Three candidates supported by Tustin Residents Action Committee, a group dedicated to ousting controversial incumbent Councilman John Kelly, overwhelmingly swept the City Council race Tuesday. "This is six months of work that worked out," said Carl Kasalek, chairman of TRAC, composed of representatives of several of the city's powerful homeowner associations. By margins of more than 2 to 1, former planning commissioners Leslie Ann Pontious, 44, and Charles E.

Tustin Ranch property owners have voted to keep paying a yearly lighting and landscaping assessment that was overturned by Proposition 218. According to results announced at Monday's City Council meeting, 78% of Tustin Ranch residents favor the tax. "I don't know what we would have been doing if that didn't pass," Councilman Thomas R. Saltarelli said. "I'm really pleased with that vote."

Term limits imposed on City Council members can be repealed only by a vote of the people, the panel concluded this week. Council members recently approved a two-term limit, but provoked controversy by including a clause giving future councils the ability to revoke the limits. But City Atty. Lois E. Jeffrey said this week that allowing future council members to reverse term limits could be challenged in court.

A routine move to set the city's municipal elections for March 26, the same day as California's presidential primary and other elections, barely passed on a 2 to 1 vote this week, with Councilman Michael J. Doyle dissenting. Mayor Jim Potts and Councilman Thomas R. Saltarelli were absent from Monday's meeting for business reasons, officials said. Doyle is a longstanding opponent of consolidating the city's elections, which are usually held in April.

The City Council voted unanimously this week to impose term limits on members of the Planning Commission and the Parks and Recreation Commission. The measure, which could receive final approval as early as Aug. 15, would limit commissioners to no more than three consecutive terms. Each term lasts two years. Commissioners, who advise council members on local matters, are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the City Council.

Voters go to the polls Tuesday in a City Council election that could alter the direction the city takes in the next four years. The incumbents who hold the two seats to be decided insist the city is in good hands: Crime is down, sales taxes are up, new jobs are coming in and, while nearby cities struggle, Tustin has remained financially healthy. But opponents say much has to change.

Residents will go to the polls today to fill two seats on the City Council. The polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. For additional information, call the city clerk's office at (714) 573-3026. The candidates are: * Leslie Anne Pontious, 48, incumbent/business owner. Elected to City Council in 1990; mayor in 1992. * Charles E. Puckett, 50, incumbent/businessman. Elected to City Council in 1990; mayor in 1991. * Michael J. Doyle, 51, restaurant owner.

Four City Council candidates will face off at a forum Wednesday sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. During the scheduled 1 1/2-hour event, which starts at 7 p.m. in the City Council chambers, the candidates will answer questions from a three-member panel, as well as from the audience, on issues related to the April 12 municipal election. Council members Charles Puckett and Leslie Anne Pontious and challengers Michael J. Doyle and Tracy Worley are running for two seats on the council.

Residents of the Tustin Ranch area have until the close of a public hearing Monday to cast their votes on whether to keep a lighting and landscaping assessment that was made illegal under Proposition 218. Public Works Director Tim D. Serlet said the city distributed about 4,300 ballots to residents of Tustin Ranch, an area bounded roughly by the Santa Ana Freeway on the south, Jamboree Road on the east and the city limits on the north and west.

Term limits imposed on City Council members can be repealed only by a vote of the people, the panel concluded this week. Council members recently approved a two-term limit, but provoked controversy by including a clause giving future councils the ability to revoke the limits. But City Atty. Lois E. Jeffrey said this week that allowing future council members to reverse term limits could be challenged in court.

Eight candidates, including two incumbents, are campaigning for three open seats on the board of Tustin Unified School District. Incumbent Merlin L. Henry is not seeking reelection. A look at the district and the contenders: The District Boundaries: Tustin, unincorporated North Tustin, part of unincorporated Santa Ana, small areas of northwest Irvine and eastern Santa Ana. Enrollment: 14,337 in kindergarten through 12th grade.

The school board this week rejected a plan to place term limits for trustees on the November election ballot. By a 4-1 margin, Tustin Unified School District board members said they were against spending a minimum of $5,000 to put the question before voters. "I don't really think people are all that concerned about it," board member Merlin L. Henry Jr. said. "I'd rather see the [election] money go into classrooms." Board member Todd Ferguson cast the dissenting vote.

A recall campaign that has virtually torn Dana Point apart has apparently failed to remove City Councilman Harold R. Kaufman from office, but the fate of Mayor Karen Lloreda was too close to call late Tuesday. "We think the spread is going to get even better," said a confident Kaufman. "I think people realized that the recall is . . . absolutely the wrong way to do government." Meanwhile, in Seal Beach, Patricia E. Campbell, a city planning commissioner, and incumbent George E.

With the pending closure of the Tustin Marine Corps Helicopter Air Station next year, planning for its conversion is a major issue in the city's municipal election March 26. Five candidates are vying for three City Council seats, including the three incumbents: Mayor Jim Potts and council members Thomas R. Saltarelli and Jeffery M. Thomas.

Planning for the eventual conversion of the Tustin Marine Corps Air Station to civilian use is likely to be one of the major issues in the April 12 municipal election, during which two seats on the City Council will be at stake. In interviews and statements filed with their nomination papers last week, the four council candidates said the helicopter base could become either an asset or a drain on city finances.

A routine move to set the city's municipal elections for March 26, the same day as California's presidential primary and other elections, barely passed on a 2 to 1 vote this week, with Councilman Michael J. Doyle dissenting. Mayor Jim Potts and Councilman Thomas R. Saltarelli were absent from Monday's meeting for business reasons, officials said. Doyle is a longstanding opponent of consolidating the city's elections, which are usually held in April.

Karen M. Judkin has withdrawn as a school board candidate for the Tustin Unified School District in the Nov. 8 election. Judkin, a business consultant, said last week that she withdrew because her family is moving out of the school district. She was running for a four-year seat on the board. Her name will appear in the ballot, she said, because it was too late to have it removed, but she has told supporters that she has stopped campaigning.