MISSION VIEJO : Ray Carolin to Run for City Council Seat

Although the City Council election is seven months away, marketing consultant Ray Carolin declared himself a candidate Friday in an attempt to capitalize on the defeat of an effort to recall Councilman Robert A. Curtis.

By a 2-to-1 margin last week, voters defeated a recall campaign against Curtis that was heavily financed by the Mission Viejo Co. In a press release, Carolin, 42, accused the company, as well as Mayor Christian W. Keena and Council members Victoria C. Jaffe and Norman P. Murray of wrongly taking roles in the recall effort. Keena, Murray and Jaffe are up for reelection on Nov. 6.

Jaffe, although critical of Curtis, never publicly sided with the pro-recall Alliance for for Mission Viejo.

Carolin, said that even though the election is not until November, he only recently met Curtis and Councilman William S. Craycraft, Curtis’ sole ally on the council, and intends to align himself with them.

Carolin decided to announce his candidacy while the recall campaign is fresh in the minds of voters.

“The past recall election so offended me that I felt we need to try to provide effective and dynamic leaders in the community,” said Carolin, a seven-year resident of the community.

In his statement, Carolin called Keena “a weak and ineffective leader” who has “no vision for the City of Mission Viejo. While the Mission Viejo Co. launched an attack on the democratic process and one of his fellow elected officials, he never took a stand and said, ‘Enough is enough,’ ”

But, Carolin added, as a council member, he would act as a peacemaker and said “I don’t consider myself an enemy of the Mission Viejo Co.,” which contributed more than $250,000 to the recall against Curtis.