Council Plea Fails to Persuade Ailing Mayor to Quit Post

San Clemente Mayor Thomas Lorch, recuperating from a heart attack he suffered four weeks ago, refused Wednesday night to step down from his position after the rest of the City Council suggested that he do so for his health.

Lorch, 47, suffered a mild heart attack Aug. 27 but was advised by his doctor that he could return to his mayoral duties. He was appointed by the council last November as mayor, and his one-year term in that position will expire after the Nov. 4 election.

The other four council members who suggested that Lorch resign all have vigorously opposed him on the issue of implementing San Clemente’s new and complex Measure E slow-growth initiative, which the city’s voters approved June 7.

All Express Concern

Council members Brian J. Rice, Robert D. Limberg, Holly Veale and Robert Mecham all expressed concern that the stress of presiding over San Clemente’s often-stormy council meetings could lead to another heart attack.

“I don’t want that on my conscience,” Veale said.

Rice, who as mayor pro tem is considered next in line to be appointed mayor, told Lorch that the council was “willing to let you step down if that was in your interest.”

But Lorch said he feels just fine and has no intention of missing his remaining five council meetings as mayor. After November, he returns to the four-year council seat he won in 1986 by campaigning on a slow-growth platform.

“I would think at this point I don’t have any problems,” said Lorch, who has been walking an hour each day to assist in his recovery.

Lorch has not been cleared by his doctor to return to his job as an electronics design engineer for an aerospace company in Anaheim. He and the doctor are scheduled to meet today for an update on his condition.

Many in an audience of more than 60 people applauded and cheered when Lorch announced that he intended to continue as mayor. Some of Lorch’s supporters took the podium to assail the other council members.

“Some members of the council have blood on their hands and should be ashamed of their conduct,” said resident Norm Ream. That comment provoked a shouting match between Mecham and Ream.

Cites Rice Ailment

Ream added that the public should be equally concerned with the health of other council members, particularly Rice, who has suffered a number of seizures since a 1982 traffic accident.

Rice, too, said he is fit to serve.

Lorch maintained that the other council members had an ulterior motive in trying to oust him from the mayoral seat--retaliation for his intransigence on slow-growth issues.

Although Lorch, Rice and Veale were elected in 1986 on allied growth-management platforms, Lorch has found himself ostracized this year, in part by his insistence that Measure E be implemented exactly as it appeared on the ballot.

The council voted 4 to 1 recently to let a lawyer rewrite the initiative into simpler language after city staff members complained that the wording was so complex that they could not implement it.

Among the problems in Measure E are requirements for a five-minute police response time in a city of rugged hills, where the geography makes such a response nearly impossible to guarantee. The city also has been struggling with the law’s requirement that paramedics respond to emergency medical calls. San Clemente, which employs only a handful of paramedics, mostly relies on emergency medical technicians.

The council has ordered a six-month moratorium on building development, effective until Jan. 5, to give the city staff time to deal with the ordinance.

Limberg, who along with Mecham voted against Lorch for mayor last year, denied that the council’s request for his resignation was motivated by anything other than concerns for his health.

But Limberg agreed that the council has been unhappy with Lorch as mayor, contending along with others that Lorch has used the position to further his own slow-growth agenda.

“He uses the council as a forum. He debates (members of the public) who oppose his position,” Limberg said. He added that Lorch also has interfered with the staff by asking them directly to do research work, when he should instead go through the city manager.

Lorch denied this, saying that other council members approach staff members for research work just as frequently as he does.

The council had the option Wednesday night of removing Lorch from his mayoral position, as permitted under state law, City Atty. Jeff Oderman said. But Limberg said that neither he nor the others saw any point in taking such extreme action with the November election only weeks away. Limberg added, however, that if the election were not approaching, he would favor voting Lorch out of office.

“It’s no secret,” Limberg said, “that there is a general level of dissatisfaction with Tom’s performance as mayor.”