Actor Wants More Time With His Family : Eastwood Won’t Seek a Repeat Role as Mayor

Clint Eastwood announced on Wednesday that he will not attempt a sequel to his two-year term as mayor of this picturesque tourist village.

Instead, the actor told the Herald of Monterey, he will spend more time with his family.

“I’ve really enjoyed this, but I have to take care of the personal stuff for a while,” Eastwood told the paper. “If you miss time with your family, you wonder if it’s retrievable time. Sometimes it isn’t.”

Concern for Children

Eastwood, 57, said his children--a 19-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter--are in their formative years and his mayoral duties are taking time away from them. He said he might have reached a different decision if his children were older.

Eastwood, whose movie successes include the Dirty Harry police action films, took a center stage as one of the most famous mayors in the nation with his election in April, 1986.

Since then he has devoted a couple of days a week to city business. He had until 5 p.m. Wednesday to file reelection papers.

He said he plans to stay in Carmel and would not rule out a return to politics after his kids are grown.

“Never rule it out,” Eastwood said. “But I’m not interested in it right now.”

Target of Speculation

During his two-year term, Eastwood sparked excitement among the 3,824 voters here and triggered speculation that he would run for higher office.

“People have speculated on a lot of things,” he said. “But I’m not interested in it at the present time.”

He entered politics after city officials turned down his plans to remodel a commercial building next to the restaurant he co-owns, the Hog’s Breath Inn.

His campaign for mayor drew international press coverage and sometimes created a carnival atmosphere and attracted more tourists.

Eastwood offered a modest assessment of his impact as mayor.

“When I first came in there were a lot of little things,” he said Wednesday. There was a problem with stairways down to the Carmel Beach, a shortage of public restrooms in the city, parking problems, a crowded library and a water shortage that no one seemed to be doing anything about, he said.

He said a major accomplishment was a lawsuit giving Carmel an extra 100 acre-feet of water and forcing the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District to do an environmental analysis of its water allocation system.

Eastwood said he does not intend to stay out of this election, even if he’s not a candidate.

“I won’t disappear into the woodwork,” he said.