Two more to join City Council race

Al Salehi, who ran for the U. S. Senate as American Independent Party candidate Al Salehi Agassi in the June 8 election, has pulled nomination papers for a seat on the Laguna Beach City Council.

Salehi, 31, listed Beverly Hills as his place of residence in the campaign and his occupation as entrepreneur and political analyst with an income of $250,000.

He also ran for the Irvine Unified School District Board of Governors in 2004, winning 4.8% of the vote.

Laguna Beach City Council candidates are required to live inside city limits.

Salehi’s MySpace page lists higher education as on-going from 1998 to the present at UCLA, following graduation from Laguna Beach High School in 1997. He also lists Laguna as his hometown.

Emanual Patrascu, 29, who declared his candidacy July 7, picked up his nomination papers July 19.

Patrascu has been a resident of Laguna Beach for four years. He served on the board of the Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce, but took a leave of absence when he formed a campaign committee.

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Incumbents rate continuity high

Incumbents Mayor Elizabeth Pearson, Mayor Pro Tem Toni Iseman and Councilman Kelly Boyd have signed one another’s nominating petitions.

“We all agreed that continuity on the council is really important with the upcoming changes in personnel at City Hall and the state of the economy,” Councilman Kelly Boyd said.

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Filing

The nomination papers must be filed by Aug. 6, unless one of the incumbents decides not to run, which would give any other candidate until Aug. 11 to file.

City Clerk Martha Anderson has asked all the candidates to make appointments for filing to ensure sufficient time to review all the documents thoroughly, including the voluntary statements of qualifications.

The statements cannot be changed once filed. However the candidates can withdraw the statements up to 5 p.m. of the next working day after the close of the nomination period.

Statements are limited to 200 or fewer words and may not refer to any other candidate for the same office or to their qualifications, character or activities.

Statements are confidential until after the nomination period closes.