Rossmoor’s cityhood bid is failing

An effort to turn a suburban neighborhood into Orange County’s 35th city appeared headed to failure Tuesday in early voting as Rossmoor residents lined up on the side of remaining an unincorporated county island.

The 1.6-square-mile sliver of land between Seal Beach and Los Alamitos would have been a self-sufficient entity supported by a new utility tax.

Proponents of Measure U argued that cityhood meant local control and better services. Opponents said the measure would mean an extra burden for taxpayers, and that Rossmoor’s commercial sales tax revenue -- only $317,00 last year -- was too small to support cityhood. Rossmoor, a 1950s-era suburb with 10,500 residents and one small retail center, would have been the second-smallest city in Orange County, and the first to achieve cityhood since Aliso Viejo incorporated in 2001.

Only Rossmoor’s 7,400 registered voters were allowed to vote on the question. One of the last remaining unincorporated areas in the county, Rossmoor has a $1-million budget. In the last fiscal year, it relied on a $600,000 subsidy from the county, which has been trying to unload the land since the county’s 1994 bankruptcy.

In Santa Ana, veteran Mayor Miguel Pulido -- who has been at the helm of the city for nearly 14 years -- appeared headed to a decisive reelection victory.

Pulido, 52, who was born in Mexico City and became the city’s first Latino mayor in 1994, has ridden wide support among neighborhood associations, developers, and the police and fire unions to win reelection every two years, often by large margins.

This time, Pulido was challenged by Michele Martinez, the first sitting council member to seek the mayor’s seat in a decade. Martinez, a 29-year-old rookie councilwoman and self-employed consultant, appealed to voters in the city of 350,000 by drawing on her background.

She grew up in a family troubled by drugs in a gang-ridden section of Santa Ana. She portrayed Pulido as a complacent, tough-to-reach establishment figure, a leader out of touch with a city struggling with poverty, unemployment and resurgent gang violence, which has contributed to about two dozen homicides this year.

Pulido said he never doubted the outcome of the race, but Martinez’s challenge prompted more aggressive campaigning than in previous years.

“We worked harder, but I think it paid off,” Pulido said at his reelection party Tuesday night.

“I think it’s a very strong vote of confidence from the city. It was a reaffirmation of the direction of the city. I think people are telling me to keep going in a big way. We’re going to continue to make public safety a top priority and work with the schools.”

Santa Ana council candidates that Pulido supported, Claudia Alvarez, Carlos Bustamante and Vincent Sarmiento, also were well ahead in early voting.

Pulido, who works at a consultant firm and his family’s muffler shop, enjoys a strongly symbolic perch in the mayor’s job, which commands only part-time pay and the same voting power as the rest of the all-Latino council.

If she were to go on to lose, Martinez would remain on the council. There are two years left in her term. Pulido also was challenged by George Collins and Stanley Fiala.

In Irvine, the master-planned community of 183,000 that touts itself as the nation’s safest city for its size, the political rancor was as sharp as ever. Councilwoman Christina Shea and Councilman Sukhee Kang battled for the mayor’s seat, with early returns showing Kang narrowly leading.

Kang, bidding to be the first Korean American mayor in a city that is more than one-third Asian American, is a close ally of veteran Councilman Larry Agran. The Agran camp is pushing for a strong city role in planning and building a 1,347-acre park on the former El Toro Marine base, a project that critics say is moving too slowly. Six years into the effort, the so-called Orange County Great Park now features just a balloon ride and a small “preview park.”

In a related issue, Irvine voters appeared to be affirming city control of the park with strong support for Measure R, which will preserve the council’s control over its development for four years.

Opponents, led by Shea, a longtime Agran foe, argued the city might be forced to raid the tax money to make up for Great Park budget shortfalls.

Most of the dozen candidates vying for Irvine’s council seats allied themselves with one of the two camps. Agran appeared to be hanging onto his council’s post, as did his ally, Mayor Beth Krom. Councilman Steven Choi, in the opposing camp, also appeared headed to reelection.

In Westminster and Garden Grove, home to the nation’s largest Vietnamese enclave and a stronghold of their political influence, 10 Vietnamese Americans ran for office. But the anticipated Vietnamese-majority council in Westminster did not appear to be emerging.

And in Anaheim, Councilwoman Lorri Galloway appeared to retain her seat, her first reelection contest after she championed a housing project in the city’s Resort District, which drew the ire of Walt Disney Co. and Mayor Curt Pringle.

The ballot’s only countywide measure, Measure J, was leading in early voting. The measure, billed as a way to protect Orange County taxpayers, called for changing the County Charter to give voters final say over increased retirement benefits for elected officials and employees.

The polling numbers were so high that there was no organized opposition to the measure, even from the employee unions it would affect.

In Seal Beach, voters were backing Measure Z, which set a height limit of 25 feet for residential development in the city’s Old Town area.

Proponents argued that Measure Z would help preserve the charm of the beach village, while opponents contended that it would increase taxes and reduce property values.

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christopher.goffard @latimes.com

tony.barboza@latimes.com