SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Mission Viejo Mayor to Work in San Juan

Robert A. Curtis, Mission Viejo’s controversial mayor, this week won a new title: deputy city attorney of the neighboring city of San Juan Capistrano.

The City Council voted 4 to 1 to allow Curtis, who for the past four weeks has served San Juan Capistrano on a consultant basis, to assist acting City Atty. Thomas P. Clark Jr. of the law firm of Stradling, Yocca, Carlson & Rauth, through February, 1992. At that time, the city is expected to hire a new full-time city attorney whose duties would encompass Curtis’ job.

“He is being given rather routine and nominal actions,” said City Manager Stephen B. Julian, who added that Clark would first screen all of Curtis’ activities. “This is not a big deal as far as I’m concerned.”

George Scarborough, San Juan Capistrano’s assistant city manager, said Curtis will do “the kinds of things that don’t require the backup of a large firm but do need quick and focused action . . . things mostly in the code enforcement arena.”

For that work, Curtis will be paid up to $135 an hour.

City Councilman Jeff Vasquez cast the dissenting vote, saying he did not think “it’s appropriate for the mayor of a neighboring city to be involved” in the city’s legal affairs.

“One of the primary problems I see with this is that Mr. Curtis has access to our highly sensitive legal matters,” Vasquez said.

Councilman Gary L. Hausdorfer supported the choice of Curtis, however.

“I think the man is an attorney, and he has the right to earn a living,” Hausdorfer said earlier in the week. “I don’t see him doing the bulk of the work. . . . But it doesn’t make sense to have the law firm doing all the work.”

Curtis had been criticized in Mission Viejo for taking campaign funds from developers who only months earlier had spent about $500,000 trying to oust him in a nasty recall battle in 1989.

Curtis was also the source of controversy in San Juan Capistrano during a City Council election campaign in 1984, called by insiders one of the nastiest ever run in the city. Curtis acted as manager of one of the losing candidates.

Curtis has the right to apply for the open city attorney job, now in the recruitment process, Mayor Kenneth E. Friess said, “but I can’t imagine he would be given serious consideration.”