DANA POINT : Split Council Elects Curreri Mayor Again

Breaking a deadlock, the City Council has chosen Judy Curreri to serve a another one-year term as mayor.

The seat has traditionally gone to the city’s mayor pro tem, but the council voted 4 to 1 for Curreri on Tuesday night after having deadlocked 2 to 2 in an attempt to choose a new mayor last month.

The impasse was caused because the June election changed the five-member council’s composition, bringing in two new members while another was reelected to a second term. The deadlock occurred while Curreri was in Europe and unable to cast a tie-breaking vote.

Curreri said Wednesday that she didn’t expect to be named mayor again, and called on her colleagues to set aside emotions generated during a close June 7 election.

The only vote against Curreri on Tuesday came from newly elected Councilwoman Toni Gallagher, who criticized Curreri’s past votes on land development.

Gallagher, the top vote-getter in the election, on Wednesday questioned why Curreri was named mayor once more, and not William L. Ossenmacher, who was mayor pro tem.

“I feel that William Ossenmacher was blocked from being mayor because he has a history of representing the citizens of Dana Point rather than the developer special interests,” Gallagher said.

The council named second-term Councilwoman Karen Lloreda as mayor pro tem by a 3-2 vote. Gallagher and Ossenmacher voted no. Newly elected Councilman Harold R. Kaufman cast votes for both Curreri and Lloreda.

Ossenmacher said he was not disappointed that he is not Dana Point’s mayor.

Curreri was Dana Point’s first mayor in 1989.