IRVINE : 3 Take Out Papers for Council Seat

One day after the City Council called a Nov. 6 election to fill an open council seat, three men took out nominating papers Wednesday to run for it.

The potential candidates are Bill T. Vardoulis, 51, a former Irvine councilman; Scott E. Peotter, 33, who successfully campaigned last year to exclude homosexuals from protection under the city’s human-rights ordinance, and Scott Coleman, 46, a project superintendent for Marriott Corp.

The two-year council position became open when Sally Anne Sheridan resigned to take office as the city’s second directly elected mayor. Nominees for the seat must gather 30 signatures from registered voters by Aug. 10 to qualify for the ballot.

Vardoulis, vice president of Church Engineering Inc. in Irvine, has been involved in transportation and finance issues in Irvine and Orange County. He was elected to the City Council in 1976 and won reelection in 1980.

Peotter, an architect, was president of the Irvine Values Coalition last year during its fight to pass Measure N. Voters approved the measure by a 10% margin, repealing the section of the city’s two-year-old human-rights ordinance that outlawed discrimination based on sexual orientation.

After the November victory, Peotter said that the group would concentrate on fielding “pro-family” candidates for city offices.

Coleman is a six-year resident of Irvine and a board member of the Woodbridge Village Assn. He supervises Marriott building projects, according to his wife, Beth.

Coleman and the other potential candidates could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The council voted Tuesday to hold the November election after a resident’s group filed a petition to block Mary Ann Gaido from filling the council seat. Gaido was the third highest vote-getter in the June election, when two council seats were filled. Under city law, Gaido would have been entitled to the open seat if the petition had not been filed.

On Monday, Gaido sued the city, alleging that errors on the petition invalidated it and demanding that the council award her the seat. A hearing on her suit has not been set.