LOCAL ELECTIONS / TUSTIN CITY COUNCIL : Kelly Ousted as 3 Sweep Balloting

Three candidates supported by Tustin Residents Action Committee, a group dedicated to ousting controversial incumbent Councilman John Kelly, overwhelmingly swept the City Council race Tuesday.

“This is six months of work that worked out,” said Carl Kasalek, chairman of TRAC, composed of representatives of several of the city’s powerful homeowner associations.

By margins of more than 2 to 1, former planning commissioners Leslie Ann Pontious, 44, and Charles E. (Chuck) Puckett, 47, defeated Kelly and two other challengers in a fight for two four-year terms on the council. Jim Potts, 37, commanded about half the voting in a race among three candidates for a two-year term created by the resignation of former Councilman Ronald B. Hoesterey.

“TRAC represents a lot of very concerned citizens that felt the council was getting bogged down in issues that were not pertinent to the city,” Pontious said. “Hopefully, now we can get back to city business and take care of the citizens of Tustin.”

The election followed months of legal battles and last-minute mudslinging aimed at Kelly.

Since the council majority voted last fall to move the municipal election from November to April, Kelly and his ally, Councilman Earl J. Prescott, fought the decision in council chambers and in the courts. They alleged that Hoesterey was not a legal resident of Tustin when he voted for the change.

Whether there would be an election at all was the No. 1 issue until a little more than a week ago, when Superior Court Judge David Brickner ruled that Hoesterey was a legal resident when he voted.

Since then, the central issue has become returning respectability to the council, a body characterized by bitter battles and lengthy debates. Five of the candidates--Pontious, Puckett, Potts, Dennis E. Pedersen and John Norman Butler--pledged to return order to the council chambers.

Meanwhile, Kelly was criticized for everything ranging from his education to his stance on a redevelopment project. Leaders of Tustin Residents Action Committee obtained copies of 2-year-old police documents, which they read at a council meeting and cited in a critical brochure. The documents alleged that Kelly and Prescott harassed poll workers during the November, 1988, election. However, neither man was charged with any infraction.

Flyers attacking Kelly appeared on trash cans and telephone poles in the Old Town area and negative posters were stapled to his campaign signs. No one, however, claimed responsibility for the campaign material.

“I’ve always been the underdog,” said Kelly, who was elected to the council in 1986 on his fourth try. “You know, I’m only 28 and I’m white and single. I’ve got a life ahead of me.”

Times correspondent Michelle Nicolosi contributed to this report.