LOCAL ELECTIONS : SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO CITY COUNCIL : 13 Candidates in Race to Fill 3 Seats on San Juan City Council

The race for three seats on the City Council in the Nov. 6 election offers an eclectic field of candidates, ranging from an incumbent seeking his fourth term to a 19-year-old college student.

No matter who is elected to the City Council, the race will be noteworthy for at least two reasons.

First, two of the three incumbents have chosen not to run, thereby guaranteeing the council at least two new faces for the first time since the 1970s. And, for the first time in the city’s history, the council election is being coupled with the general election. That, along with the fact that there are 13 candidates in the race, means a costlier effort to get name recognition, said Mayor Gary L. Hausdorfer, the lone incumbent seeking reelection, this time for his fourth term.

“We’re competing with a lot of other issues on a lot of levels,” Hausdorfer said. “We’ll do all the same things as far as campaigning is concerned, but just a little more of everything--more signs and more expenses.”

With perhaps four exceptions, the candidates can be split into two groups. The first group contains those who support the decade-long efforts of the current council. These are Hausdorfer, Collene (Thompson) Campbell, Jerry V. Harris, Gil Jones and Joe Soto. Those who believe the council has lost touch with the community are Roy L. Byrnes, Robert J. Davies, Donna Timney and Jeff Vasquez.

Among the remaining four are T.J. Meadows, who hopes to parlay his longtime commitment to water issues into a council seat; Joan Scarantino, who believes that the council should be a full-time position; Dr. Mitchell I. Streger, another candidate who places water issues high among his priorities; and Gerhard D. Peters, a student at Saddleback College.

This is a race in which the candidates are coming from different parts of this historic community. They range in age from 19 to 66, and in experience from a student two years out of high school, Peters, to a former mayor, Byrnes.

Two physicians are among the candidates, Byrnes and Streger, who also happens to be a sheriff’s deputy. Four former or current city planning commissioners are in the running: Jones (a current member), Campbell, Davies and Meadows, who is also a former city fire chief and a 55-year resident of San Juan Capistrano.

Of the remaining candidates, each is known around town for at least one particular reason. Harris owns a local equestrian center and has the backing of much of the equestrian community.

Scarantino is probably known best for her connection by marriage to the Scarantinos’ restaurant, long a part of the downtown scene. Soto owns the Soto Co., a prominent local landscaping firm, and has longtime ties to Mission San Juan Capistrano. Some candidates question, however, his last-minute move into the city from nearby Capistrano Beach.

Timney won local acclaim as a saloon owner who made it clear she was unhappy when the city decided she should close her business. She also made local headlines when the city paid her $100,000 to relocate.

Finally, Vasquez is known for having restored a home in the historic Los Rios district (as has Jones), as well as having made a film of the city’s colorful history that was narrated by none other than Ricardo Montalban.