Orange County Elections : Irvine Votes to Elect Its Mayor Directly; Stanton Rejects Tax

A bitterly contested ballot measure allowing Irvine residents to directly elect their mayor won easily Tuesday, sending what Mayor Larry Agran said was a “clear signal that voters prefer to choose their leaders.”

In Costa Mesa, voters overwhelmingly decided to spend a $2.1-million tax surplus on road improvements rather than receive a property tax credit, and in Stanton a special property tax assessment to pay for Police Department improvements was defeated.

In Irvine, Agran, the principal backer of Measure E, said its passage means the council and “backroom politics” will no longer decide who presides as mayor.

Council member Sally Anne Miller, the measure’s chief opponent, said voters did not understand the true implications of the initiative and consquently set up a system under which incumbents can remain in office indefinitely, despite a two-term limit on council members. She said incumbents can now alternately run for the council and for the mayoral post.

“It’s unfortunate,” Miller said, “but the issue was so complex.”

A year ago, nearly 78% of Irvine’s voters endorsed the idea of a directly elected mayor when the City Council put the issue to an advisory vote. That vote resulted in Measure E, which divided the council and triggered unprecedented campaign spending for an Irvine ballot measure.

Agran and City Councilmen Ed Dornan and Ray Catalano contended that voters in a city the size of Irvine, which has a population exceeding 90,000, should choose their mayor directly. Traditionally, the council has decided once a year, behind closed doors, who will hold the mayor’s post.

Because the mayor is the city’s chief spokesman, Agran said, that person should be directly accountable to the electorate.

Miller raised more than $14,500 for the campaign against the measure, including $10,000 from developers and real estate interests in the city. Agran and Catalano financed the proponents’ campaign with personal loans totaling $3,100. Both sides spent much of their money on mailers and post cards sent to targeted Irvine households. Opponents also set up several elaborate phone banks to call residents and urge the initiative’s defeat.

Under Measure E, the mayor would be elected for two years beginning in June, 1988. Voters in five other cities in Orange County elect their mayors directly.

In Stanton, the future of the city Police Department apparently was at stake as voters decided whether to accept a special property tax assessment to be spent on improving police services. Measure G would have generated $335,000 annually for the city’s police, who are among the lowest paid in Orange County.

Before the election, Mayor Sal Sapien said the city might push ahead with a proposal to dismantle its police force and contract with the Sheriff’s Department for police services if voters rejected the measure. Ranging in amount from $24 for a single-family home to $300 for an industrial lot, the annual tax required the approval of two-thirds of the voters.

Council member Mike Pace, who drafted Measure G, said its defeat means the city “will likely go with the Sheriff’s Department.” He said it is increasingly difficult for small cities like Stanton to provide adequate services. “Without a change in our tax base, it’s impossible to offer the level of service,” Pace said.

In Costa Mesa, Measure C, the first attempt in Orange County to override the so-called Gann limit on government spending, won handily.

Councilwoman Mary Hornbuckle said passage of the measure allows the “council to make good on its highest priority--road improvements.”

Tax revenues in Costa Mesa have grown faster than the Gann limit allows spending to increase, creating a $2.1-million surplus. Voters had to decide whether to receive a property tax credit that would average $66 or let the city keep the money for street and road improvements.

Anaheim voters easily approved a $14-million proposal for a water revenue bond that city officials said was needed to prevent service interruptions and water shortages. Rather than paying for the improvements through a two-year, 35% increase in their water bills, residents opted to let the city sell bonds that would be paid off with 6% to 8% rate increases through 1992.

In Cypress, Measure D won handily. It called for a public vote on any proposed zoning changes on land designated for public or semipublic use in the city, including parks, schools and the Los Alamitos race track. A flap over the closure of the 160-acre Los Alamitos golf course and a plan to build a commercial business park on the site prompted a coalition of golfers and preservationists to put the issue on the ballot to protect what open space remained in the city.

The Cypress Chamber of Commerce as well as the Cypress school district opposed the measure, saying it would usurp private property rights and discourage development in the city.

In Tustin, the annexation of a 182-home tract about a mile northwest of City Hall in unincorporated county territory was approved. Proponents of Measure L said giving Tustin control of the tract would improve the response time of emergency services at no added expense. There was little active opposition to the measure.

In the Three Arch Bay Community Services District, Measure P was passed, authorizing the district to sell $1.8 million in bonds to upgrade storm drains that officials say are incapable of handling heavy winter rains.

To the north, in Newport Beach, voters approved a measure allowing residents of the 72-home Beacon Bay colony--who live on city-owned tidelands--to double the length of their 25-year leases, making it easier to obtain home-improvement loans.