SAN CLEMENTE : Mixed Response to Election Results

For only the second time in at least 20 years, voters reelected all the City Council incumbents. While some see the move as a sign of support, others see it as a blow to curbing “special interests.”

Scott Diehl and Candace Haggard easily won their reelection bids Tuesday, capping one of the quietest council elections in city history.

Each candidate received about 19% of the vote, with Diehl getting 6,101 votes and Haggard 5,944. The next closest vote-getter in the field of seven candidates was David T. Leland, who received about 15.4% of the vote.

Diehl said he believes voters were looking for continuity and experience in dealing with the city’s continuing financial problems.

“We’re going to move forward,” he said. “The issues are tough, but I think this council is up to the task.”

During the past year alone, the council has been forced to cut more than $2.6 million in city services, including the elimination of 25 positions, about 7.5% of the city work force.

In coming months, the council will decide whether to keep the San Clemente Police Department or to contract for police services with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Disappointed challengers said they were pessimistic about the city’s future.

“The developers still run San Clemente,” said Glenn Edward Roy, who came in fourth with 15.3% of the vote. “I think the people of San Clemente are asleep. What they just got were toll roads and massive Pier Bowl overdevelopment.”

Roy and others critical of the local government, including Councilman Thomas Lorch, point to a recent San Clemente Taxpayers Assn. survey that indicates a majority of registered voters do not believe the city is “working effectively.” One in seven of the city’s 25,781 registered voters were polled last April, according to the association. Some officials, however, have questioned the validity of the survey.

Jay Durkin, who at one point dropped out of the race due to a lack of campaign money, said he also sees “more of the same” in San Clemente.

“That’s why I believe so strongly in term limits,” said Durkin, who came in last with 2,445 votes. “I also hope the Chamber of Commerce, at least until the 1994 election, removes itself from the political scene and does what it should be doing--promoting local business and tourism.”

Durkin and Roy had been highly critical of a political action group organized by the chamber to support Diehl and Haggard.

“It just takes big dollars and big committees to get you elected, even at the local level,” Durkin said. “Without a big support team, you can’t do it.”

Haggard and Leland were unavailable for comment Thursday.