DANA POINT : Council Candidates’ Filing Period Begins

Filing opened Monday for what is expected to be a wide-open City Council election June 7, the only council race in the county regularly held in June.

Three council seats will be open--those of incumbents Mike Eggers, Eileen Krause and Karen Lloreda. Although they have not yet formally announced their intentions, Lloreda has held a fund-raiser and is expected to run for reelection, while Krause remains undecided and Eggers is not expected to run.

The possibility that two incumbents will not enter the race will undoubtedly cause more candidates to jump in, said City Clerk Sharon L. Waits. She said she has fielded 10 to 20 inquiries about the election.

“Usually, a number of people will not run if they have to run against an incumbent,” Waits said, adding that if an incumbent does not run, the candidate filing period is extended.

The filing period ends at 5 p.m. on March 11 unless an incumbent decides not to run, in which case the filing period will be extended until 5 p.m. on March 16.

Eggers, who has served on the council for six years, has said that he will make a public announcement at the City Council meeting on March 8.

Two people generally mentioned as potential candidates took out filing papers Monday. They are Bill Shepherd, president of the Lantern Village Assn., and Robert Moore of Monarch Beach. Moore just missed being elected to the first City Council in 1988 when he finished sixth.

Robert Wilberg of Capistrano Beach, a former trustee of the Capistrano Bay Park and Recreation District, is also expected to be a candidate.

Lloreda and Ernest A. Nelson, who finished third and narrowly missed being elected in 1992, are the only two potential candidates who have raised money in the past six months, according to campaign disclosure statements filed Jan. 31 with the city clerk.

Lloreda leads the duo in campaign money raised in the past six months, with a total of $4,000. Her leading contributors are Diane Harkey of Capistrano Beach, with a gift of $250, and Newport Beach attorney Paul Hamilton, with a gift of $330, according to her statement.

Nelson, a local engineer who raised $2,338 in the past six months, is expected to run.

Council members must be registered voters and residents of Dana Point. They are paid $400 a month.

Each candidate must have his or her filing papers signed by at least 20 but no more than 30 Dana Point voters. There is no filing charge, although a candidate who wants a 200-word statement included in the sample ballot mailed to voters must pay $750.