Curtis Recall Effort Comes Down to Vote

Supporters and foes of Councilman Robert A. Curtis worked the phones and walked precincts Monday in a last-minute push to get out the vote, but both sides agreed that Curtis’ recall election today remains too close to call.

“We feel it’s going to be very close,” said Helen Monroe, who chairs the pro-recall Alliance for Mission Viejo. “We’re just trying to turn out our supporters.”

Curtis, in a rare point of agreement with his chief foe, concurred. “It’s going to be a close election, and its outcome will depend on whether we can compete with their professional vote-delivery system,” he said.

The city’s 34 polling places will be open today from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The voting will end a contentious chapter in the young city’s history, settling an issue that has torn Mission Viejo politics asunder for the better part of two years. Local officials say they are eagerly awaiting the end of the campaign, hoping that the community’s divisiveness will subside in its wake.

Also on the ballot is Measure A, a proposal to require that all major annexation proposals be submitted to voters. It is expected to pass easily.

The recall is another matter.

“I think it’s been a tremendous waste of time, money and energy,” said Councilman William S. Craycraft, who has generally supported Curtis but declined to say how he will vote. “It’ll be good to get this over with.”

For months, Curtis and his foes have sparred in a battle that has drawn in virtually all of the city’s major political figures and issues. The council has tried to steer clear of the campaign, but its meetings have often disintegrated into long and unproductive sessions, many of them revolving around the recall or issues related to it.

Much of the campaign has turned on money, in particular on the Mission Viejo Co.’s lavish contributions to the recall effort. The company, which planned and built Mission Viejo, has contributed more than $267,000 to force Curtis’ ouster, an amount that Fair Political Practices Commission officials say is unusually high and that Curtis has called “obscene.”

Curtis, a vehement critic of the company and its political involvement in Mission Viejo’s civic affairs, has raised about $39,000.

Monroe defends the recall group’s fund raising, noting that the Mission Viejo Co. and the recall proponents share a desire to keep Curtis from tampering with the city’s boundaries. Curtis supported a controversial annexation proposal last year, and the fallout from that measure, which failed, spurred the recall effort.

With time running out in the campaign, observers Monday were closely monitoring absentee ballots for predictions they may hold on voter turnout.

Observers say a low turnout is expected to help recall supporters because their core constituency consists of many longtime residents with loyalty to the Mission Viejo Co. Monroe, however, disagrees with that premise, saying that her group has pushed hard to increase turnout, believing that voters will respond to the pro-recall mailings.

Early signs suggest widespread voter interest. The county registrar of voters office received 2,587 requests for absentee ballots, a total that represents 6.8% of Mission Viejo’s 37,889 registered voters. That is about twice as many as the average, officials in the registrar’s office said.

Predictions of turnout ranged from 15% to as high as 40%.

But after a campaign that has featured sharp attacks by both sides, observers worry about the shadow that the recall may cast on Mission Viejo politics in elections to come. Mayor Christian W. Keena, who said he has received death threats during this campaign, conceded that it “may be months before we get back to normal here.”

Craycraft agreed. “I’m very worried about what this foretells for the future in Mission Viejo,” he said. “Are these kinds of tactics and money going to set the tenor for future elections? Down the range, that’s going to create more problems.”

Today’s Election in Mission Viejo

What: Mission Viejo voters will decide today whether to recall City Councilman Robert A. Curtis. According to his critics, Curtis, who was elected to the council in 1987, has been a divisive force in city government and has pressed for an annexation proposal even after residents expressed misgivings. Curtis denies those allegations, and he and his supporters have responded by saying that the recall is actually intended to silence his slow-growth voice. Also on the ballot is Measure A, a proposal to require that annexations of more than 100 acres be submitted to city voters. Little opposition has emerged to Measure A, which was introduced by Councilman Norman P. Murray.

When: The city’s 34 polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Information: Voters inquiring about a poll location should call the Orange County registrar of voters office at (714) 567-7600.