San Juan Capistrano, Los Alamitos Voters to Go to Polls Today

Voters in San Juan Capistrano and Los Alamitos will be casting ballots today in the only remaining Orange County municipal elections held in April.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.

In San Juan Capistrano, three candidates--Ilse M. Byrnes, Jean LaBurn and David A. Hanson--are challenging incumbents Lawrence F. Buchheim and Kenneth E. Friess.

Though a city slow-growth initiative will not be on the ballot until November, preserving the mission town’s charm has emerged among the city’s 11,740 registered voters as an important question.

Buchheim holds that the city’s General Plan, enacted in 1974, provides adequate protection from overdevelopment by setting a limit on the number of residential building permits issued each year.

Friess says that leaders of other cities laughed at San Juan when it included the clause and that they are now 15 years too late in getting behind the county slow-growth initiative, which will be on the ballot and which he supports.

LaBurn calls San Juan “a victim of other communities” in that most of the traffic that ties up the town is from elsewhere. She also says: “The council has almost become a rubber-stamp council. They all think the same way.”

Hanson complains that mass transit options are too few for the south county, which generates more traffic congestion. He also calls for increased diligence in enforcing zoning, building and sign codes.

Byrnes favors both the city and county slow-growth initiatives because “we’re up to capacity now.”

All three challengers say the city needs new leadership, while the incumbents stress their experience.

In Los Alamitos, two City Council seats will be voted on, as well as the question of moving municipal elections to June and November to coincide with the county’s polls. Whether to increase the city’s business license tax by 50% will also be decided.

Candidates Ron Bates and Marianne Stiles are challenging incumbent Councilmen Paul Bernal and Charles E. Sylvia.