Voters Choose 3 New Mayors, Back Reforms : Cities: There’s change at the top in Irvine, Anaheim and Garden Grove, but in four other cities mayoral incumbents are retained.

Sorting through crowded candidate races and multiple ballot measures, voters in Orange County municipal elections selected three new mayors in some of the area’s largest cities and overwhelmingly endorsed various election reform proposals.

Perhaps the most surprising turn of events came in Anaheim, where City Councilman Tom Daly won a decisive victory over two-term Mayor Fred Hunter. While in San Juan Capistrano, a town proud of its cowboy image, Carolyn Nash became the first woman elected to the City Council.

In other cities, however, voters generally tended to close their ears to a nationwide anti-incumbent sentiment as political contracts were renewed with mayoral incumbents in Santa Ana, Huntington Beach, Orange and Costa Mesa.

For most weary candidates and voters, however, Wednesday was welcomed as the real close to a long and furious election season in which area residents have withstood a carpet bombing of political messages through the mail and over the airwaves.

“I feel good, but I’m very tired,” Garden Grove Mayor-elect Francis R. Kessler said Wednesday morning. “We’ve worked 16-hour days for this. I’m going to turn the phone off and go to bed.” Kessler succeeded two-term Mayor W.E. (Walt) Donovan, who did not seek reelection.

Other successful candidates, including Anaheim’s Daly, were savoring their victories Wednesday and plotting new government strategies.

Daly, who captured nearly 57% of the vote, said he was pleased and surprised by the size of his upset victory.

He attributed part of his success Tuesday to an earlier stance against a citywide utility tax that was imposed and favored by Mayor Hunter.

“I think it’s a clear statement from the residents of Anaheim that they want the city to balance its budget without tax increases,” Daly said.

Under his watch, Daly said, the tax would be repealed.

The new mayor said the election of Frank Feldhaus to the council, who defeated Hunter ally and incumbent William D. Ehrle, may finally give him the majority he needs to effect change in the city.

“The way I read the results, the residents want a more careful approach to decision-making by the city leaders,” he said. “I think Mr. Feldhaus and I represent a more conservative, careful approach to operating the city.”

Hunter, who has two years remaining on his council term, blamed the loss on his support of a 2% utility tax that costs the average homeowner $5 per month.

“Last year, I made the decision that I would rather risk my reelection than cut the city budget another $8.5 million,” Hunter said. “If we didn’t put in the utility tax, we would have lost two fire stations, we would have laid off police officers and we would have closed libraries. I wasn’t willing to do that.”

Ehrle, who won a special election in 1987 and was reelected in 1988, attributed his loss to the anti-incumbent movement.

“I don’t think it reflects on my record,” Ehrle said. “I’m proud of what the city accomplished in my five years on the council. . . . I can leave office with my head held high.”

Santa Ana was the scene of probably the most one-sided city race as Mayor Daniel H. Young romped to an easy victory over 11-year Councilman John Acosta. Also, two of Young’s running mates, Tom Lutz and Lisa Mills, won while a third protege, Glenn Mondo, lost in his bid for a council seat to Ted Moreno.

With Moreno’s victory and Acosta’s loss, Santa Ana will retain two Latino representatives in a city where about 65% of the population is Latino. The changes are also not expected to alter the current dominant voting bloc led by Young.

“I think I’ve got a good, strong mandate from every part of the city,” Young said. “For all John’s charges about a divided city, I don’t think that’s been borne out at the polls.”

Meanwhile in tiny San Juan Capistrano, Nash shattered the town’s longstanding identity as the only city in the county that had never elected a female council member.

Nash, an outspoken former city planning commissioner, said sex did not play a part in her victory because women “appeared to be more sensitive to what people cared about.”

Up the coast, two candidates backed by environmental groups won election to the Huntington Beach City Council, giving slow-growth forces a voting majority there. After a night of lead changes, environmental challengers Victor Leipzig and Dave Sullivan won two of the three open seats. Incumbent Mayor Jim Silva also won reelection, but Councilman Don MacAllister was swept from office.

In Irvine, voters elected Michael Ward, 46, to succeed Mayor Sally Anne Sheridan, who did not seek reelection.

Ward, a regional salesman for metal-finishing manufacturers, is conservative and supports maintaining the current City Council majority. His victory came in a comfortable margin over Marc Goldstone, who had promised to make the Irvine Co. invest more in the community in exchange for development rights.

If there was any common theme that spread across city boundaries, it was distrust of incumbents and a desire for caps on contributions to political campaigns.

In all five cities where term limits appeared on the ballot--Anaheim, Newport Beach, Orange, Westminster and Yorba Linda--voters gave whopping approvals of not less than 78% and as high as 84%. The measures, however, were only legally binding in Anaheim and Newport Beach. In the three other cities, the votes were taken for advisory purposes only.

Measures testing sentiment for tighter restrictions on campaign fund-raising were also easily passed in Anaheim and Santa Ana, but the vote was legally binding only in Santa Ana.

Staff Writers Len Hall, Matt Lait and correspondents Terry Spencer, Jon Nalick, Lynda Natali, Andrea Heiman, Debra Cano, Helain Olen, Tom McQueeney and Mimi Ko contributed to this story.

New County Mayors

In some of Orange County’s largest cities, Tuesday’s elections brought changes to the top:

Anaheim: Tom Daly

Age: 38

Background: Executive for Orange County chapter of the Building Industry Assn. and former aide to County Supervisor Don R. Roth and former Supervisor Ralph Clark. First elected to City Council in 1988. Defeated Mayor Fred Hunter.

Garden Grove: Francis R. Kessler

Age: 60

Background: Worked as Garden Grove police chief for nearly 13 years before retiring in 1988. This year, he was completing his first four-year term on the City Council. Succeeds Mayor W.E. (Walt) Donovan, who did not seek reelection.

Irvine: Michael Ward

Age: 46

Background: Works as regional salesperson for metal-finishing manufacturers. Member of Planning Commission, a 12-year Irvine resident and has served for five years as board member of Woodbridge Village Assn., one of the nation’s largest homeowner associations. Succeeds Sally Anne Sheridan, who did not seek reelection.

MORE ON ELECTIONS: A1, B4-6