SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Jones Reelected in Split Vote for Mayor

In a pair of 3-2 votes that could indicate the arrival of a two-party system of sorts in this city, Gil Jones was elected this week to serve another one-year term as mayor and council newcomer Collene Campbell was elected mayor pro tem.

Jones, a council member since 1990 who has served as mayor for the past year, won the honorary title again with the support of Campbell and Councilman Gary L. Hausdorfer. On the other side of the political fence Tuesday night were council members Jeff Vasquez and newly elected Councilwoman Carolyn Nash.

Vasquez, also a member of the council since 1990, has never been elected by his colleagues to serve as mayor, a snub Nash denounced in her first speech as a council member. She suggested that the votes divided a City Council already made uneasy by last November’s election, described by some in the community as the nastiest in the history of the city.

“I think Gil has done an excellent job . . . (but) Mr. Vasquez was elected two years ago as the highest vote-getter. He’s been here for two years and paid his dues,” said Nash, adding that the divisions in the council “kind of puts a damper on the statement of trying to start over and work together. . . . I think a council vote against Jeff is a very clear message to the electorate that their opinion does not count with this council.”

Jones, who only voted for himself after a lengthy pause, stressed that he would try to heal the split community.

“(My election) was not intended to divide the community. We will work together,” he said.

Campbell, accepting the position as mayor pro tem during her first day as a council member, said she was proud to serve in that capacity.

Outgoing Councilman Kenneth E. Friess, who along with Jerry V. Harris left the council Tuesday to standing ovations for their service, dismissed the mayor and mayor pro tem selections as politics. There never has been a real precedent for selecting those posts, he said.

Friess suggested the council members could learn something about the voting process from Tuesday’s exercise.

“It’s just whoever can get three votes,” Friess said. “Maybe that’s the lesson tonight--it takes three votes to make something happen.”