TUSTIN : 6 Take Out Papers in Race for Mayor

Six potential mayoral candidates, including two council members and incumbent Gene Beyer, took out papers this week to run for the city’s top office.

Beyer, council members Joanne Coontz and William G. Steiner and former planning commissioner Don Greek all picked up candidates’ papers for the Nov. 3 race. The paperwork must be formally filed with the county registrar of voters by Aug. 7.

Steiner, appointed to the council three years ago and elected to his first term in 1990, said he will endorse Beyer and will run only if the mayor pulls out of the race.

Coontz, elected in 1986 and the council’s first female member, said she wanted to run for the mayoral position because the city needs “new leadership and direction.”

“I am not running against the mayor--I’m running for the job,” she said.

Greek was unavailable for comment. He ran a close council race against Steiner and Coontz in 1990.

The city and the Redevelopment Agency sued Greek in November, 1990, alleging that his company, DGA Consultants Inc., had improperly accepted at least eight city contracts worth $103,000 while he was a planning commissioner from 1983 to 1990. The lawsuit is pending.

Beyer was elected to the two-year office in 1990 after 10 years as a council member. Although both Coontz and Steiner have been listed in the past as members of his reelection committee, the mayor said he did not mind the competition.

“The more the merrier,” Beyer said. “It’s their prerogative. I don’t get upset if someone wants to run against me. This is America.”

The other mayoral candidates who picked up applications this week are Carole Walters, a community activist, and Ramona Elsenpeter, a longtime resident.

If Coontz and Steiner lose the race, they would retain their council seats.

Council members Mike Spurgeon and Fred L. Barrera picked up candidates’ papers for the council race. Spurgeon, appointed to fill Beyer’s unfinished council term in 1990, would be running for his first full term. Barrera would be running for his fifth consecutive term.

Another resident, Thomas J. Debin, also obtained the filing paperwork to run for a council seat this week.

The offices of city clerk and treasurer will also be open in November. City Clerk Marilyn J. Jensen, a 14-year veteran of the office, will seek her fourth term. City fiscal agent Mark Weiss and Helen Walker, an Orange National Bank administrator, each drew papers to run for treasurer.