Police, Trash Are Key Issues

The winning City Council candidates in next week’s election will help hire a new police chief, deal with fallout from the alleged embezzlement of recycling funds and help guide development in eastern Orange.

Incumbents have taken several controversial votes over the past year, most of them related to a police investigation that began in April 1997 and now is in the district attorney’s office.

Police started looking into allegations that the city’s trash and recycling companies may have misappropriated millions in municipal funds. As part of the investigation, former Police Chief John R. Robertson began looking at city officials and was fired by a 3-2 vote in February.

Mayor Joanne Coontz and Councilman Mark A. Murphy both voted to fire Robertson, citing lack of trust, while Councilmen Michael Alvarez and Dan Slater fought the move.

Slater and Murphy now face pharmacist Richard W. Siebert and bicycle-shop owner Jim Wronski for their council seats.

Alvarez is challenging Coontz for the mayor’s seat along with longtime candidate Juan Pablo Serrano-Nieblas.

Alvarez, 42, has portrayed Coontz as part of an “old boy” network and says he would refrain from micromanaging affairs. He promises to make City Hall more professional.

Coontz, 69, who had been on the council for six years before winning her first mayoral term in 1994, said Alvarez lacks crucial experience on the job. She has the knowledge to keep the local economy on the upswing, she said.

Serrano-Nieblas, 59, has been running for office for 20 years on an environmentalist platform that demands a moratorium on building on the city’s east side.

In the council race, Murphy, 41, said he would focus on economic growth and would help put plans for eastern Orange into action.

Slater, 39, has long advocated preserving the city’s historic district. In the new term, he would try to find a new chief with Robertson’s community-policing skills and push for full disclosure and reform of how the city’s trash is picked up and recycled, he said.

Siebert, 55, disagreed with Robertson’s firing and said he wants the trash issue thoroughly aired when the district attorney’s office concludes the case.

He also said he would give better representation to eastern Orange and make sure that public safety resources are not spread too thin as the area grows.

A former councilman in Huntington Beach in the 1970s, Siebert has been challenged by some opponents for leaving office before his term was up. He said he was forced to leave for economic and family reasons.

Wronski, 51, acknowledges he is not running much of a campaign, but said he would make City Hall more accessible and cease what he calls extra taxes, such as the subscription fee for paramedic services.

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Orange Mayor / City Council

Here are the candidates in the Orange mayor’s race and City Council election Tuesday:

MAYOR

Michael Alvarez

Age: 42

Occupation: City councilman; heads family-owned corporation and commercial real estate business

Background: Former board member, Chamber of Commerce; past president, Friends of the Library; sits on endowment committee for Senior Citizens Center; member, Orange Rotary, Orange Historical Society, Downtown Business and Professional Assn. and

Orange County Board of Realtors

Issues: Wants to foster better relationship between city and school district; would modernize City Hall operations to make them more professional and prevent conflicts of interest among employees; wants to pay more attention to city growth and need to maintain public areas such as streets, curbs and sidewalks

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Joanne Coontz

Age: 69

Occupation: Incumbent; retired from various corporate positions

Background: Former planning commissioner; a director, Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Operations Committee; member, Orange Economic Development Partnership Advisory Committee; chairman, city’s management audit/budget committee; past chairman, Orange County Integrated Waste Management Commission; advisory board member, St. Joseph Hospital and YWCA of Central Orange County; director, Orange Elderly Services; Woman of Distinction Award from Soroptimist International

Issues: Would continue to focus on public safety; wants to support business community by seeking more economic development; would work to continue good relationship with school district and focus on issues affecting children

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Juan Pablo

Serrano-Nieblas

Age: 59

Occupation: Environmentalist; retired housekeeper

Background: Orange native; son of migrant farm laborers; decorated veteran who enlisted in Air Force and served for six years in Vietnam era; former coach and sponsor of a Boy Scout soccer team

Issues: Wants to turn city gardens over to cultivation and distribution of marijuana for the physical and spiritual well-being of residents; would merge police and fire departments to make them more efficient, less costly and less influential over policy; would call for a moratorium on development in eastern Orange

CITY COUNCIL (two seats)

Mark A. Murphy

Age: 41

Occupation: Incumbent; account manager at Hewlett-Packard Co.

Background: Orange native; bachelor’s degree and MBA, USC; volunteers with YMCA and Orange Elderly Services; member, Elks Lodge; raises funds for variety of community services

Issues: Wants to continue to focus resources on public safety; would continue to encourage businesses to locate in city; wants to make sure development of eastern Orange is balanced and done with care and attention

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Richard W. Siebert

Age: 55

Occupation: Pharmacist who owns his own store

Background: Former Huntington Beach city councilman; member, La Purisma Catholic Church and Kiwanis Club in Orange; past president, Orange County Pharmaceutical Assn.; member and past president, Orange Park Acres Assn., a homeowners group; chairman, Orange Park Acres Planning Committee, a city-appointed board that reviews land use changes in Orange Park Acres;

volunteers with Orange County 4-H projects

Issues: Would give strong support to police and firefighters and make sure services do not diminish as city spreads eastward; believes he would give better representation to eastern Orange area; disagreed with firing of former Police Chief John R. Robertson and would not have extended contract for City Manager David L. Rudat

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Dan Slater

Age: 39

Occupation: Incumbent; residential real estate sales

Background: Past president, Old Towne Preservation Assn.; past chairman, Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast; member, Orange Unified School District’s Fiscal Advisory Council and city-school district coordinating committee; past president, Executives Assn. of Orange County; helped organize Orange for Trees, a division of California ReLEAF, which awarded him its Tree Hero award; member, Chamber of Commerce, Orange Rotary and Christian Business Men’s Committee

Issues: Wants to continue crime reduction, improve neighborhood problems and preserve open space and recreational land; would improve city’s relationship with school district; wants full disclosure and reform with regard to trash and recycling services and wants new police chief to have same qualities as former Chief Robertson

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Jim Wronski

Age: 51

Occupation: Owns recumbent bicycle store in the city

Background: War veteran; NRA life member; volunteers with local philanthropic organizations

Issues: Wants to make city more accessible to residents and to keep City Hall open 5 1/2 days per week; would cancel extra charges such as the paramedic subscription fee; wants to reduce amount of street-sweeping on residential streets and give homeowners exemptions to park in front of their homes on those days

Source: Individual candidates