Battles in Mayoral Race Surface at Council Sessions : Politics: Councilwoman Coontz and Mayor Beyer have surprises for each other at Tuesday meetings.

ORANGE — The ongoing battles in the Orange mayoral race are on view most Tuesdays in the City Council chambers.

Rare is the Tuesday meeting when Councilwoman and mayoral candidate Joanne Coontz or Mayor Gene Beyer don’t have a surprise for the other. One week Beyer surprised City Council members by proposing a 10% pay cut for the council to show solidarity with city employees taking pay cuts.

Coontz roundly criticized Beyer for not giving the council advance announcement of the proposal--and the following week popped a surprise request for a budget review on council members.

And longtime civic activist and candidate Carole Walters stands at the speaker’s podium several times during thrice monthly City Council sessions to criticize the city’s elected officials and staff for various fiscal and civic misdeeds.

No one mentions the Nov. 3 elections during these disputes among these three candidates.

Incumbent Beyer hopes to appeal to voters’ sense of security and familiarity. The 65-year-old mayor made a career of education, retiring from the Orange Unified School District as a principal in 1987. He served on the City Council from 1980 to 1990, when he was elected to the post of mayor.

But Beyer has presided over a city in financial crisis, a fact his opponents are quick to seize on. Earlier this month, city employees agreed to take a 10% pay reduction in return for a promise of no layoffs through the end of the fiscal year.

Beyer says the financial failings of the city government are attributable to a bad economy and cutbacks in state funding. Coontz, a councilwoman since 1986 and the only woman ever elected to the Orange City Council, has said much of the city’s financial failings are a result of bad fiscal planning by elected officials.

“The problem is a lack of leadership,” Coontz said. “The challenge of the 1990s is to do away with business as usual.”

Walters, president of the Orange Political Action Committee, said she believes that the city staff is top heavy and that management layoffs and retirements would have eliminated the need for the cuts which will close City Hall on Fridays beginning Oct. 9.

On another issue, Walters is the only one of the three candidates to take an unequivocal position on efforts to preserve the Old Towne neighborhood. A strong advocate of property rights, Walters is fighting attempts to limit growth in the area with new zoning.

Both Beyer and Coontz say the issue requires further study.

The city’s Planning Commission is slated to take up the issue next month, but its unlikely that any recommendation it makes will come before the City Council before the election.

The other three members of the City Council are throwing their support behind Beyer.

“He believes in teamwork,” said Councilman Mike Spurgeon. “The name of the game here is teamwork and consensus.”

Also running for mayor is Juan Pablo Serrano-Nieblas, who has run unsuccessfully for office a number of times. He could not be reached for comment.

In the City Council races, five candidates are vying for the two seats.

Both City Council incumbents are seeking reelection. Councilman Mike Spurgeon, appointed to the council to replace Beyer when he became mayor in 1990, is seeking his first elective term on the council. And Councilman Fred Barrera--a former gas station owner first elected to the council in 1976--is seeking yet another four-year term.

Also seeking election are Orange businessman Thomas Debin; Anaheim city employee Robert Meano and James Wronski.

Spurgeon is also the force behind a term-limitations measure going before the voters of Orange in November.

Measure R would limit City Council members to eight years of office and mayors to three two-year terms.

Orange Mayor, Council, Clerk, Treasurer

Four candidates are vying for job of mayor of Orange, and five others are seeking two open seats on the City Council in the Nov. 3 election. In addition, the seats of clerk and treasurer each are sought by two candidates. The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 5. To register, pick up a form at any post office, library or city hall. For more information, call the county registrar of voters at (714) 567-7600.

MAYORAL CANDIDATES

Gene Beyer

Age: 65.

Occupation: Incumbent, retired high school principal.

Background: Mayor since 1990; city councilman from 1980 to 1990; advisory director, Orange National Bank; past president of the Orange North Rotary.

Issues: Contends that an emergency ordinance on building in the southwest quadrant of the Old Towne neighborhood is premature and needs further study; supports building a joint-use library with Rancho Santiago College in east Orange; supports city subsidies to TRW to remain in Orange; favors term limits for Orange elected officials; favors furloughs over layoffs of city employees.

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Joanne C. Coontz

Age: 63.

Occupation: Incumbent; retired administrative assistant.

Background: Elected to the Orange City Council in 1986; Planning Commission member from 1976 to 1983; Orange Centennial Commission member, 1987-88; named Orange Citizen of the Year by Orange Chamber of Commerce in 1983.

Issues: Apartment moratorium needs further study; supports a joint-use library with Rancho Santiago College provided “the city has the money to pay for it and a city user population”; favors offering TRW subsidies to remain in Orange; favors term limits for elected officials; favors furloughs over layoffs of city employees.

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Juan Pablo Serrano-Nieblas (Could not be reached.)

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Carole M. Walters

Age: 48.

Occupation: Homemaker; civic activist.

Background: Appointed to the Old Towne Steering Committee; member of the Chapman Neighborhood Concern Committee since 1988; member Orange Political Action Committee since 1989 and president since 1991; member Orange Taxpayer Assn.

Issues: Opposes any building moratoriums in the Old Towne because “I am very much in favor of property rights”; supports the joint-use library with Rancho Santiago College; opposes the agreement with TRW; believes that furloughs of city employees would not be necessary if there were less upper management in Orange city government; favors term limits.

CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES

Fred L. Barrera

Age: 70.

Occupation: Incumbent, retired owner of gasoline service station.

Background: Elected to the City Council in 1976; Orange Citizen of the Year, 1977; Orange National Bank, director; past president Rotary Club of Orange; lifelong member of Holy Family Roman Catholic Church.

Issues: Contends there is no need for a building moratorium in the Old Towne neighborhood; opposes the joint-use library with Rancho Santiago College, arguing that the needs of students and Orange residents cannot be met by one facility; supports the TRW agreement; supported furloughs of city employees to save jobs; favors term limits.

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Thomas Debin

Age: 47.

Occupation: Businessman, president and founder of a wholesale distribution and contracting firm in Orange.

Background: Active member in St. Norbert’s Roman Catholic Church and a volunteer at St. Joseph’s Hospital.

Issues: Contends that apartment moratorium in Old Towne needs further study because “I want to preserve Old Towne yet I want to encourage development”; favors joint-use library with Rancho Santiago College; favors agreement with TRW; supports furlough of city employees but says the work force should be reduced through attrition; favors term limits for elected officials.

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Robert Meano

Age: 26.

Occupation: Part-time security director and usher at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Background: Volunteer at the Orangewood Children’s Home.

Issues: Favors the apartment moratorium in Old Towne; supports the joint-use library with Rancho Santiago College; favors the TRW agreement; blames the furloughs of city employees on “wasteful government spending;” favors term limits.

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Mike Spurgeon

Age: 51.

Occupation: Incumbent; human resources consultant.

Background: Appointed to City Council in December, 1990; member of the City Council audit committee from 1987 to 1990; president elect of Orange Chamber of Commerce in 1990 but did not take position as a result of City Council appointment; member of the City Council public safety committee (1984-1987).

Issues: Opposes any moratorium in the Old Towne area; supports joint-use library as long as planners consider the special needs of children; supports TRW agreement; supports furloughs of city employees because layoffs are disruptive and decrease worker productivity; supports term-limit measure.

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James Edward Wronski (Could not be reached.)

CITY CLERK CANDIDATES

Marilyn J. Jensen

Age: 59.

Occupation: Incumbent.

Background: City clerk since 1979; city employee since 1965; volunteer with Miss Orange Pageant; member Friends of the Orange Library; volunteer with St. Joseph’s Hospital, the Orange Senior Citizen Center and the Special Olympics.

Issues: Wants to remain in office to finish project begun three years ago to preserve city records by transferring them to a state-of-the-art records imaging system. “They will be there for generations, and I want to see it through.”

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Nancy Ann Just

Age: Not given.

Occupation: Office manager.

Background: Friends of the Orange Library; volunteers at St. Paul’s Lutheran School in Orange where children attend school; Girl Scout troop leader and treasurer for over 50 Girl Scout troops in northeast Orange and Villa Park; vice president of parent-teacher group at St. Paul’s.

Issues: “I always wanted to be involved in politics.”

CITY TREASURER CANDIDATES

Helen Y. Walker

Age: 59.

Occupation: Administrative assistant at Orange National Bank since 1983.

Background: An active community volunteer for over 30 years. Volunteer at St. Joseph’s Hospital; former Girl Scout troop leader; PTA president Palmira Elementary School in 1964; Orange Citizen of the Year in 1990; Orange Centennial Commission member; president of the Soroptimist International of Orange, an organization for professional and businesswomen, since 1991.

Issues: “I’m a concerned citizen and I love my town. I would like to be of service to the citizens of my city, and I think I can do a good job.”

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Mark Weiss

Age: 32.

Occupation: Orange fiscal agent since May, 1989.

Background: Worked in financial security at Pacific National Bank (1985-1987); national bank examiner with the federal Comptroller of the Currency (1987-1988); internal auditor with the First Deposit Corp. (1988-1989); treasurer of the National Management Assn., Orange chapter, since 1991.

Issues: “I now invest city money and manage the city cash flow . . . I’m really doing most of the duties and responsibilities of the city treasurer as we speak.”