ANAHEIM : New Councilmen to Be Sworn In Nov. 29

Lou Lopez and Bob Zemel, the city’s newest council members, and Mayor Tom Daly, who was just reelected, will officially begin their terms of office after a swearing-in ceremony Nov. 29, city officials said.

Lopez and Zemel, who were the top two finishers in a field of 16 candidates, will attend their first council meeting Dec. 6, joining Daly and Councilman Frank Feldhaus on what will temporarily be a four-member council.

A fifth seat will remain vacant until a candidate is appointed by the council or voted in by special election if the council cannot agree on an appointment within 60 days.

For Zemel, 41, the third-place finisher in both the 1988 and 1992 council elections, the swearing-in ceremony will be particularly satisfying.

“It feels a lot better than it did two years ago,” he said. “This time, it’s a whole different story.”

Zemel, who spent more than $50,000 during his campaign, said his victory was due to “citywide financial support that we didn’t have before.”

“I was able to get the message out that I was a fiscal conservative,” he added.

“I’d like to see the city get back to running its business like a business.”

Lopez, 50, an Anaheim police officer for more than 25 years, said crime is the city’s top issue.

The councilman-elect, who spent more than $22,000 during his campaign, attributed his victory to a strong grass-roots effort.

“We went door-to-door and handed out more than 50,000 pieces of mail,” he said.

“I met people one-to-one and they saw me as a person. I spent half the money that at least three candidates spent,” he said.

“The bottom line is that the voter will not be fooled by money.”

Lopez will step down as a member of the Anaheim Union School District Board of Trustees after being sworn in as a council member.

His school board term expires in 1996.