ORANGE COUNTY ELECTIONS : Irvine Mayor Agran Has 2 Challengers in First Election for Post

Irvine Mayor Larry Agran, who now holds the post because he was selected by fellow council members, will be one of three mayoral candidates in the city’s first direct election for the post in June, according to papers filed Friday with the city clerk.

Challenging Agran are Barry J. Hammond, 36, a business analyst, and Hal Maloney, 38, a budget analyst with the Orange County Health Care Agency. Neither has held elective office before.

Political consultant Harvey Englander gives the edge to Agran, 42, a lawyer who has served on the City Council since 1978.

“Larry Agran is the single most popular elected official in the city of Irvine, and I don’t think he will have a problem getting elected as mayor,� Englander said.

But his opponents disagreed. Hammond said, “If I can get my name known and the word out, I think I will have an excellent chance to win.�

Hammond said he plans to spend about $15,000 on the race.

Maloney, who has served on the city Finance Commission for the last five years, said he did not know how much he planned to spend on the race.

In assessing his chances of defeating Agran, Maloney said: “I plan to run a campaign in which I will offer myself as an alternative. Once people hear me talk about the issues, then they will decide for themselves what my chances are.�

The election to fill three seats on the City Council also will be held June 7, but the deadline for candidates to file nominating papers with the city clerk has been extended until Wednesday because two incumbents, C. David Baker and Ray Catalano, are not seeking reelection.

Liberal and moderate to conservative factions in the city have begun to take sides in the race.

Incumbent Councilwoman Sally Anne Miller, a moderate, is seeking reelection. She is also supporting newcomer Michael Shea, her appointee to the city Finance Commission, who has filed for the City Council. He is a car wash operator.

Baker, a conservative who is running for the 40th Congressional District seat being vacated by Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach), said he will formally announce whom he is supporting for the City Council at a later date.

But he has said that among those he was “sympathetic to because they have been supportive of me in the past� are William A. Bloomer, his appointee to the city Public Safety Commission, along with Shea and Miller. Bloomer returned his nominating papers Friday. He said he would spend about $50,000 on the race.

Liberals Catalano and Agran have thrown their support to candidates Cameron Cosgrove and Paula Werner, who have taken out nominating papers but have not yet filed. Cosgrove is Catalano’s appointee to the city Planning Commission, and Werner is Agran’s appointee to the Irvine Transportation Commission.

Others who have taken out nominating papers, according to the city clerk’s office, are Sydney Warburton III, Michael S. Duffy and George E. Mertens.