CANYON LAKE: Economy dominates council race

Both the City Council and the gated city's Property Owners Association making cuts

By AARON CLAVERIE - Staff Writer | Friday, October 10, 2008 11:05 PM PDT ∞

CANYON LAKE ---- Foreclosures and rising costs for police and fire service are two of the most pressing issues in the Canyon Lake City Council race, in which eight candidates are competing for three available seats.

The issues are intimately connected because the city's property tax base, sapped of strength by the recent foreclosures, accounts for one-third of the revenue generated by the gated city of 10,000.

The list of candidates looking to lead the city, a 40-year-old planned community that was incorporated in 1990, through this challenging financial environment includes three incumbents: Mayor Carl Armbrust, Mayor Pro Tem John Zaitz and Councilman Frank Kessler.

Zaitz, 62, was named mayor pro tem ---- which means he runs meetings and appears on behalf of the city when the mayor isn't available ---- earlier this year after the city discovered Kessler, the former mayor pro tem, had used his city credit card for personal expenses. Kessler, the subject of a sheriff's department investigation that was recently forwarded to the district attorney's office, has maintained his innocence, saying he used the card by accident.

Armbrust, an 88-year-old retired Air Force colonel and former prosecuting attorney, won election to the council in 2004. Zaitz has served two terms on the council and Kessler, 75, has served three terms.

The other five candidates are Jordan Ehrenkranz, Nancy Horton, Jim Kay, Steven Salazar and Barry Talbot.

Ehrenkranz, 74, is president of the Canyon Lake Property Owners Association's board of directors, a private organization that governs activities within the city's gates. The majority of the city is located within the gates, and the association, funded by dues paid by property owners, takes care of maintenance of roads and the landscaping.

In Canyon Lake, the association's board is as powerful ---- or in some cases more powerful ---- than the council.

Ehrenkranz said his experience on the association's board, where he has served five terms, should help him make a smooth transition to the council dais.

Both Horton, 65, and Talbot, 63, are known throughout the city as two leaders of a group that has worked to stop a proposed commercial development slated for the base of Goetz Hill, a rock-strewn hill in the southwestern corner of the city popularly known as "Goat Hill."

They have both argued that the development should not be allowed because the hill was subdivided for homes, not for a strip mall.

Kay, 63, is the quality manager for a company that makes aircraft parts. He said he decided to run for a council seat after seeing the effect of home foreclosures in his neighborhood.

Salazar, a 41-year-old marketing manager, said he was motivated to run after watching the city try to annex land outside its northwestern boundaries. That attempt was nipped when the city of Lake Elsinore council rejected Canyon Lake's request and voted against turning over a key piece of land near Canyon Lake's north gate.

During a recent candidate forum, Salazar said the attempted land grab was ill-conceived and poorly executed. Even if the city had been successful, it would have been exposed to lawsuits and protests by county residents who opposed annexation, he said.

Salazar said the council should work to prevent the city from exposing itself to those sort of risks.

In addition to the economy and the city's budget, the candidates said some of the other important issues facing the city include a lawsuit that seeks to open the lake to public access, the state of the city's foreclosed homes, the personal ethics of council members and a controversial proposal to create a Redevelopment Agency area.

Armbrust said it would be catastrophic for Canyon Lake if the lawsuit, filed in 2006 by a Canyon Lake resident, is ultimately successful.

"The walls would come down, the gates would come down and property values would rocket down," he said.

During Armbrust's time on the council, the city has made fighting the lawsuit a priority.

"We think we're winning, but it's expensive and it's going to go on for a while," he said.

During a Chamber of Commerce speech this week, Armbrust reaffirmed his commitment to stopping the suit, which he said is not being discussed enough by some of the other candidates.

"I want everyone to know that the city is going to fight this thing to the bitter end," he said.

Ehrenkranz pointed to the state of the city's foreclosed homes as an opportunity for the City Council to do something that helps residents and housing values.

The Lake Elsinore and Murrieta city councils and the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District have passed measures that allow the agencies to recoup the cost of maintaining the landscaping on foreclosed properties through liens.

Canyon Lake, in contrast, hasn't enacted such an ordinance, Ehrenkranz said.

Kay said he would bring an analytical mind-set to the council, breaking down issues based on how the largest number of Canyon Lake residents would benefit.

Also, Kay said he would be financially conservative, voting to spend city funds only if it's a clear priority.

For instance, Kay said the council needs to do whatever it can to prevent the city's foreclosed homes from negatively affecting home values, which will contribute to a corresponding drop in property tax revenue.

Kessler has made the city's budget, which he voted against when it was approved by 3-2 vote earlier this year, a focus of his campaign.

"I'm not a team player," he said, referencing the vote.

During a recent forum, Kessler warned that the economy is going to continue to be a problem for years, and he said the council needs to stand firm and stop the state from raiding the coffers of city governments.

Horton said redevelopment of the town center on Railroad Canyon Road is an important issue.

Referring to a report produced by the city's redevelopment consultant, Horton said many of the city's storefronts and businesses are "blighted."

"They just haven't been kept up," she said.

If the city defines a redevelopment area, a city redevelopment agency can capture sales tax revenue generated within it and solicit grants to pay for renovations that the building owners or the city could not afford to finance themselves, she said.

Talbot, a retired banker, said the council needs to assure residents that its members will maintain the highest ethical standards, and he said ethics training for all council members should be approved immediately.

He also said the city needs to improve communication with the Property Owners Association, adding that communication between the two entities has been very poor of late.

"Association members don't go to the council meetings, and council members don't go the association meetings," he said.

Zaitz is one of the candidates who has come out against the idea of creating a Redevelopment Agency, saying it's "not the answer" for Canyon Lake.

His position is supported by members of the business community, who, by and large, are clustered in the city's small shopping center on Railroad Canyon Road.

Those business owners are concerned about possible rent increases and disruption of their businesses if the center is remodeled by the city's Redevelopment Agency or razed to make way for a new center.

Contact staff writer Aaron Claverie at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or aclaverie@californian.com.

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