San Juan Capistrano Councilman Resigns

San Juan Capistrano Councilman John Greiner, who moved 50 miles away to Fallbrook last month, resigned Tuesday.

“There’s not a lot of controversy over the relocation of my family, but there is some,” said two-term councilman Greiner, 63, who was reelected last year with nearly 70% of the vote. “I don’t want the cloud of my status getting in the way of future council decisions.”

Greiner, who worked on the city Planning Commission and was a Fire Authority representative, sold his house in San Juan Capistrano and moved with his wife to Fallbrook so their grandchild could leave behind some “unpleasant memories,” he said.

Greiner’s daughter Laurel, who lived in San Juan Capistrano, was killed in a traffic accident three years ago in Paris.

Greiner had been staying with a relative in San Juan Capistrano during the week and working at his career services business.

“I was technically covered from a legal standpoint, but my conscience told me I had to leave,” Greiner said.

Mayor Wyatt T. Hart said he hopes to find Greiner’s replacement soon.

“We’d like to find someone who can hit the ground running,” Hart said. “It would be my recommendation that we appoint someone to fill in the [four-year] term till next election and hold a special election in November 2002.”