Two on Mission Viejo Council-Elect Back Norm Murray for First Mayor

Mission Viejo began to take political shape Tuesday as two members of the City Council-elect pledged their support for Norm Murray as the city’s first mayor, although incorporation still is one week away.

“I’m pleased and honored at the unsolicited support,” Councilman-elect Murray said of the endorsements by council colleagues Chris Keena and Victoria Jaffe. “But the total composition of the council does need to be worked on in a harmonious fashion. I won’t make a decision until I talk to everyone one-on-one.”

The City Council-elect will select one of its five members as mayor at its first meeting on March 31, when Mission Viejo officially becomes the 27th city in Orange County.

Keena and Jaffe each said Tuesday that they decided to support Murray, 70, because of his government experience--he is a former councilman and mayor of Bellflower--and because he has the ability to make the council work in harmony.

“He has the time and ability to get work done and the ability to gain the consensus and support of all council members (to put) aside personal choices and political agendas,” Jaffe said Tuesday.

Both Jaffe and Keena have worked with Murray as directors of the Mission Viejo Community Services District and on the Municipal Advisory Council.

Keena said Tuesday that if Murray would accept his support he would nominate him for mayor.

“I’ll be honest, I wanted it myself,” Keena said. “I felt I had the most experience and that I could get the second vote, but not the third.”

Keena described Murray as a “peacemaker” who could keep the five council members working together.

“I think Norm has gone to every meeting that’s ever been held in Mission Viejo,” Keena said. “He has a deep knowledge of the community. He could tell you names of the first Indians here.”

Murray is an 18-year Mission Viejo resident and owner of Murray Supply in Huntington Beach.

“Nobody’s going to be bruised if Norm Murray is going to be mayor,” Keena said. “It’s not only the brass ring for Norm, it’s also for the community. . . . We’ve got to put our egos aside and pick the best one for the job.”

Initially, each of the five council members-elect expressed interest in the mayoral position. Councilman-elect Robert Curtis has indicated that his choice for mayor would be Councilman-elect William Craycraft, who received the most votes when the five council members were chosen from a pool of 12 candidates in November’s election.

Curtis and Craycraft could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Murray said that if he becomes the choice for mayor, the others still have the opportunity to be mayor pro-tem.

“All five of us have been making our input very well known. . . . We’ve each taken each other out to breakfast or lunch at least once,” Murray said.