SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Hausdorfer to Run for a Fourth Term

Ending speculation that he would not run for a fourth term, Mayor Gary L. Hausdorfer this week filed to run for City Council in the Nov. 6 election.

The terms of Hausdorfer, a mortgage banker, and two other incumbents, Phillip R. Schwartze and Anthony L. Bland, all expire in November.

Bland and Schwartze are expected to announce whether they will seek reelection during a press conference at 4 p.m. today at City Hall. If either Bland or Schwartze decides not to run, the time period for candidate filing will be extended from 5 p.m. today to 5 p.m. Wednesday. Hausdorfer has long been considered the most politically ambitious of the council members and has often been mentioned as a candidate for a congressional seat. But he brushes aside such talk.

“ ‘Politically interested’ is probably a better way to put it,” Hausdorfer said. “I think somebody once asked me what type of other political office interested me and I mentioned the possibility of something on the federal level. Ever since then, people have been saying I’m running for Congress. But I think anyone seriously considering running for higher office wouldn’t stay on a City Council for 12 years.”

The possibility that one of the three incumbents might not run, thereby breaking up a council that has been together for 10 years, has stimulated interest in the race. As of Thursday, 17 people have taken out candidate papers, but only four had returned them.