MISSION VIEJO : Curtis Recall Fight May Affect Race

As the filing period for November’s city election opens today, voters should get their first sign of whether an attempt to recall Councilman Robert A. Curtis four months ago will be an issue in the upcoming race.

After a bitter fight that deeply divided the 2-year-old city, several candidates are expected to oppose two council members who supported Curtis’ recall.

Last February, many voters in the recall election felt that they were either voting for Curtis or for the Mission Viejo Co., which spent about $350,000 to unseat Curtis because of his slow-growth stance.

And just minutes after Curtis retained his seat by a wide margin, his supporters were vowing to work against the reelection in November of three incumbent council members who came out against Curtis in the final days of the recall campaign. One of them, Mayor Christian W. Keena, subsequently decided not to run for reelection, citing a need to concentrate on his law practice.

The other two are Councilman Norman P. Murray and Councilwoman Victoria C. Jaffe. Murray has declared his candidacy and Jaffee is expected to run.

“I think (the recall attempt) will have tremendous impact on the election,” said Ray Carolin, who announced his candidacy within days after the recall attempt failed. “The Curtis recall election served as a catalyst for a number of groups that independently didn’t like the ways things are done here in Mission Viejo.”

But Murray said the Curtis recall effort should not affect November’s election.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s past history,” he said. “I’ve made my amends with Bob Curtis, and I feel that we are conducting city business on a friendly basis.”

In May, Curtis surprised the community by announcing that he had negotiated an agreement with the giant development firm that would give the city seven acres of land to build a civic center. In exchange, the city approved company plans for a large commercial complex. However, the deal has not won the support of the rest of the council.