LOCAL ELECTIONS / DANA POINT CITY COUNCIL : Curreri Reelected, but Second Incumbent’s in a Near-Tie

Judy Curreri won. But other than the reelection of the public health nurse to another four-year term on the City Council, little else appears to have been settled by Tuesday’s vote in the young coastal city.

The race for the only other seat on the five-member council wound up a dead heat, with just 14 votes separating Curreri’s running mate and fellow incumbent, Bill Bamattre, and challenger William L. Ossenmacher. Another challenger, engineer Ernie Nelson, finished in fourth place, 190 votes behind Ossenmacher.

But the county registrar said 15,000 to 18,000 ballots across the county have still not been tallied. How many of those might be from Dana Point is not known.

Rosalyn Lever, assistant registrar of voters, said her office expected to have an update on all county races by Friday.

One of the challengers, Christopher L. Booker, withdrew from the race too late to have his name removed from the ballot. He nevertheless received 847 votes, which could have changed the complexion of the race.

In ballot measures, 89% of voters supported a limit of two consecutive terms for council members, and 89% voted that residents must approve at the polls before facilities to support offshore oil drilling can be installed.

An analysis of the outcome in Dana Point, where 40% to 50% of the 17,905 registered voters turned out in the county’s only city council election, depended on whom you asked.

Ossenmacher, a city planning commissioner, said Wednesday that the vote shows one thing in particular: City residents want change. The four challengers, all of whom were demanding a dramatic change in civic leadership, received more votes in total than the two incumbents, he said.

“This vote shows the city is deeply divided,” Ossenmacher said. “There were two philosophies at stake in this election: the philosophy of the status quo and the philosophy of change. A total of 1,200 more votes citywide went for the philosophy of change.”

However, Curreri--the city’s first mayor and once again the leading vote-winner--rejected Ossenmacher’s theory. She attributed the votes for challengers as being part of this year’s fallout against incumbents at all levels.

The race had been billed as a referendum on the council’s plans for development as outlined in the recently drafted General Plan. That blueprint, endorsed unanimously by the City Council in July, paves the way for development on the Headlands--the city’s major promontory--and other key areas in the six-square-mile city.

But council critics, including the challengers in Tuesday’s race, said the plan--and an ill-fated, council-backed redevelopment agency--would ruin Dana Point’s “small-town atmosphere” and continue unchecked the city’s evolution into a destination resort.

They have clamored for a referendum on the General Plan, which the council has resisted. Mayor Mike Eggers had said the election would be that referendum.

“They wanted a referendum, they got it,” Eggers said before the election. He, like many others here, have insisted that most of the city’s 32,000 residents support the current leadership.

Curreri agreed. “When I walked the precincts, and I walked very hard going door to door, I didn’t hear from people that they were upset with the General Plan,” she said Wednesday. “I was ready to hear it, and I just didn’t get it.”

But Curreri did not claim to have won a mandate from the people, either, saying the vote is too close.

There was some talk about a recount among challengers and council-watchers Wednesday, but that suggestion is premature, said Lever of the registrar’s office. Requests for recounts are valid only beginning five days after an election is certified.

Ossenmacher was not talking recount Wednesday but suggested that council members note the many votes against them. “I just hope the City Council members realize this community is deeply divided and work to build bridges into the community,” he said. “I think they need to be more responsive to the residents. If the council can adapt and make some changes, they can come out of this very positively.”