Mayors Have Easy Time in Anaheim, Santa Ana

The mayors of Orange County’s two largest cities handily fought off challenges by scrappy members of their city councils, including one councilman who continued campaigning while under federal indictment on political corruption charges.

Miguel A. Pulido Jr. of Santa Ana and Tom Daly of Anaheim were winning decisive victories Tuesday over their respective opponents, Ted R. Moreno and Bob Zemel. Both contests capped years of bitter rivalry on the councils.

For Daly, apparent victory was tempered by a near-tragedy earlier in the day, when the mayor’s 70-year-old father, William F. Daly, was critically injured in a traffic accident in Brea. Daly spent the day at UCI Medical Center in Orange, where his father was treated for a broken leg, broken ribs and a collapsed lung after a collision with a tractor-trailer. The elder Daly was in guarded condition Tuesday night.

“My dad was my secret weapon in this campaign,” Daly said later in the evening from his packed, brightly lit campaign headquarters. “He worked every day on the campaign. He worked the phones, he spent his days walking the precincts; he’s very, very energetic. So when I heard the news today and thought what it could mean, it was just devastating. So we’re dedicating this victory to him and to a speedy recovery.”

Daly said he was “saddened” by the nature of the campaign. “There were some nasty features in this election, and I think the attempt to make it partisan backfired big time,” he said, adding that he wants to move on with beautification projects and after-school programs.

In the Santa Ana race, early results had Pulido leading Moreno by a nearly 3-to-1 ratio. Moreno was an underdog from the beginning. His campaign was further crippled by a 27-count indictment handed down two months ago, for allegedly extorting campaign money from two local businessmen.

Moreno spent the evening at home with his wife and children and said he was “letting the night take its course.”

Pulido, who watched early returns with other council candidates at the home of a Santa Ana supporter, said his overwhelming victory was greater than consultants predicted. “It’s certainly a vote of confidence for what we’re accomplishing and what we’re attempting to accomplish,” he said. “It’s especially nice to see that other council candidates that I endorsed are doing very well also.”

Pulido said Moreno’s absence would make for more unified council meetings. “My hope is that we can focus more of our energy on actual tasks that are good for the city verses divisive fights,” he said. “I do look forward to working with a council that gets along and has a positive, unified approach.”

In the Anaheim race, state and county Republican Party officials threw their weight behind challenger Bob Zemel, hoping to block Daly, a rising Democratic star, from positioning himself for higher office.

Daly had support from prominent Republicans as well as Democrats, including former Anaheim Mayor Ben Bay, a Republican who said party affiliation should not be a factor in a nonpartisan race.

Zemel and Daly have often sparred during the four years they have served together on the council. That animosity spilled into the courts last year, when Zemel successfully pushed the city to hire a special prosecutor to investigate Daly’s involvement in a political committee that helped two City Council candidates in the 1996 election.

The prosecutor, Ravi Mehta, was ultimately removed and charges he brought against Daly were dropped. The lengthy investigation cost the city about $400,000, and some political analysts said it tarnished Zemel’s image.

During the rancorous campaign, Zemel characterized Daly as free-spending and tax-loving. But Daly, mayor since 1992, pointed to progress in revitalizing the downtown and a deal with Disneyland to expand the park and Edison International Field as achievements. He also promised to expand the city’s community policing efforts.

In Santa Ana, charges of political corruption cast a shadow over the campaign of challenger Ted Moreno, a six-year city councilman who often found himself on the losing side of issues on the council.

Moreno portrayed himself as a champion of common people and often lined up on the opposite side of issues from Pulido. He claimed the mayor, who co-owns a family muffler business, was cozy with special interests and had lost touch with the city’s poor, including its large immigrant population.

Moreno’s sole ally on many issues was Tony Espinoza, a high school friend who declined to run for reelection this year.

Two months ago, federal investigators announced a 27-count indictment against Moreno, alleging that he extorted money from two businessmen during the 1996 campaign. Moreno supporters questioned the timing of the indictment.

Moreno, 31, has insisted he is innocent and will be exonerated. He said his voice is needed to represent the city’s youth, who lack adequate recreation facilities and job opportunities.

During his campaign, Pulido, 42, steered clear of talking about Moreno’s legal problems. Instead, he focused on the city’s lower crime rate, energized business climate, new school construction and projects such as the Discovery Science Center, due to open in December, and the Santa Ana Auto Mall, all of which came to pass during his 12 years on the council. He argued that his strategies will benefit all city residents in the long run.