So Where Is Otis Glebe When You Need Him, Anyway?

I’m thinking of Otis Glebe and not just because I’ve always loved to say, “Otis Glebe.”

Otis Glebe was an Omaha man who, it seemed, was always running for office. We thought of him in the newspaper office as the perpetual candidate--the Harold Stassen of Nebraska politics.

Otis Glebe never won a race, and probably never expected to, but that didn’t stop him from trying to knock off a more well-known opponent.

Otis Glebe (love that name!) is back in my thoughts because of what’s happening this year in San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Hills and Stanton. There’s not an Otis Glebe anywhere to be found.

In each city, three council incumbents are running unopposed for three available seats. In other words, they’re already in.

And because nothing is up for grabs, the three cities are considering canceling the municipal elections in November and simply designating the incumbents as winners.

We’ve all heard of write-in elections.

A friend says these would be write-off elections.

Consider: In 1996, only one Orange County city, Los Alamitos, saw council incumbents running unopposed. That three cities are in that situation this year makes you wonder if something is afoot.

I remember talking to municipal government experts a few years ago, with each predicting that serving on city councils would become more difficult. Voters would demand more of local government, they said, and the issues would become more complicated.

Add to that the much-publicized decline in civility at public meetings and--perhaps, just perhaps--that helps explain why no one else wanted the job in the three cities.

True, it’s too early to suggest we have a full-blown trend on our hands. Too early to lament that an underpinning of democracy--contested elections--is coming unhinged. The number of candidates this year for all the available mayor and council seats in Orange County is down just slightly from 1996.

Still, what’s going on in Laguna Hills, Stanton and San Juan Capistrano? Is there so little controversy there that no one wants to kick up some political dust? Even if the cities are clicking on all cylinders, whatever happened to the notion of the loyal opposition?

Contested elections generally mean that ideas get debated, candidates stay on their toes and the electorate become more engaged in city affairs.

Checking recent history for all three cities does reveal a pulse. In 1996, six challengers and one incumbent filed for two open seats in Laguna Hills. In San Juan Capistrano, two challengers battled an incumbent for two seats, and in Stanton a lone incumbent found himself on the ballot with four newcomers. All the incumbents held their seats, however, so maybe citizens in those towns have gotten discouraged.

The incumbents’ spin would be that they’re doing such a great job, no one wants to run against them. They may be doing a great job, but that’s never stopped people from mounting opposition campaigns. The history of American elections at all levels is that many people run for office knowing they haven’t got the slightest chance of winning.

In the other 27 Orange County cities holding municipal elections this year--each no doubt masterfully run by its incumbents--opposition abounds. Huntington Beach has seven challengers going after four incumbents’ seats. Orange has five challengers taking on two incumbents. In Westminster, two council members will try to ward off six challengers. In Dana Point, where three seats will be filled, incumbent Harold Kaufman will be joined by 10 other candidates.

Even in Los Alamitos, where perpetual happiness reigns and the two incumbents went unchallenged in 1996, the three incumbents hoping to retain their seats this time around will have an outsider in the race.

So perhaps it’s just one of those things that the three cities couldn’t generate a council race this year. Maybe they’ll get back in the swing of things in 2000, and the ballot will be jammed.

Does it matter? Does anyone care if the three cities plead no contest?

I placed a call Friday evening to Otis Glebe, 78 years old and still going strong in Omaha. He told me he ran for office six times (I would have sworn it was more), the first when he was only 20 and the last when he was 74.

I told him about our local candidate vacuum. “I wouldn’t have let that go,” Glebe said, seemingly itching from 1,500 miles away to fill the void and pay the filing fee. “Incumbents can’t be in there without some challengers.”

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by calling (714) 966-7821, by writing to him at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or by e-mail at dana.parsons@latimes.com.