Perez Voted Mayor, Smith Gets 6th Term in Orange

Orange voters have promoted an 18-year-veteran of the City Council to the post of mayor.

Councilman Jess F. Perez, 50, captured 42.3% of the vote to move into the chair vacated by Jim Beam, who left the seat to run for Orange County supervisor, a race Beam lost by 1.1%.

Perez, an architect, defeated three other candidates, but his closest competitor was former Mayor Robert Hoyt, who had Beam’s endorsement but garnered only 40.7% of the vote.

In other balloting, Orange residents returned incumbent Don E. Smith for a sixth term, and elected former Planning Commissioner Joanne Coontz to her first.

Perez said one of the first issues he plans to tackle as mayor is the controversy over Chapman College’s proposed $10-million learning center. Amid threats that the college might move, the city Planning Commission this week refused to grant the college a permit for the 63-foot-tall building.

Perez said he has instructed the city manager to set up a meeting with the college president to discuss the issue.

“Now that the political rhetoric is over, I believe we can find a workable solution,” he said.

As mayor, Perez also plans to work on such issues as planned development for east Orange, traffic congestion and affordable housing, he said.

Smith, 65, a semi-retired real estate agent, was the top vote-getter among the 10 City Council candidates. He captured even more votes than any of the mayoral candidates. “I’m so proud of the figures I got,” said Smith, adding that they indicated residents are pleased with the current course of the city.

Smith, who has been on council for more than 20 years, including four years as mayor, had been criticized by some as being too pro-growth in a small town on the verge of possible explosive expansion.

“They don’t know what they’re talking about,” he said of his critics. “I’m for planned development. I’ve always been for planned development.”

Coontz, 57, said she plans to work on planned growth for east Orange and solutions to traffic problems when she takes her council seat. She said she will be reviewing the Irvine Co. plans for an 18,500-acre parcel that is being readied for annexation and will offer “some ideas I have about solving traffic problems.”