Heavy Hitters on Deck for Second Round of City Council Interviews

Six days after three city councilmen from Rancho Santa Margarita interviewed six candidates for the seat vacated by Gary Thompson, six more candidates will be publicly interviewed tonight by a different set of three councilmen.

And the heavy hitters are coming to bat.

A former mayor and two planning commissioners are on deck, along with a former assistant to the city manager and two men who previously ran for the position. Carol Gamble, one of the original council members when the city was incorporated Jan. 1, 2000, will be interviewed before a panel that includes Mayor Tony Beall, Jerry Holloway and Steve Baric. She served the city until 2004 when she had to resign her position in order to tend to her aging parents.

Beall was not included among those who participated in the last interview session at a special meeting that was called by Holloway and agreed to by Baric and the fourth councilman, Jesse Petrilla, who was on home for a four-day leave from California Army National Guard training in Fort Knox, KY.

With Petrilla absent this week, the likelihood of each candidate being asked his or her definition of government seems remote—at least by the questioners that are present. Under last week's format, councilmen were allowed to ask two questions and appropriate follow-ups, and that was one of Petrilla's two questions. With Beall on the dais—he is an attorney by trade who was out of state on business last week—the questions should be far more thought-provoking.

Planning Commissioners Brad McGirr, an appointee of Beall, and Jim Eakin, an appointee of Holloway, are scheduled to interview, as is Lawrence "Larry" McCook, who ran a six-week, $700 campaign last year and got more than 4,300 votes.

Despite Gamble's credentials, the opportunity exists for the others, including Kathleen Roach and Michael Safranski, to provide the same kind of performance as Kevin Raney did a week ago. A virtual unknown who is chief of police in Garden Grove, Raney seized the moment with his reasoned and candid answers; he even spoke without taking any notes with him to the lectern.

Roach used to work at City Hall, and Safranski has run for office twice previously.

Here is the interview order that will take place during the regularly scheduled City Council meeting, according to the agenda:

• Brad McGirr, RSM: Attorney and current member of the Planning Commission as an appointment of Mayor Tony Beall.
  
• Jim Eakin, Trabuco Canyon: Software engineer and businessman is on the Planning Commission as Jerry Holloway’s appointment.
• Carol A. Gamble, RSM: Consultant and civil engineer is the city's former mayor elected to the original City Council who was directly involved in the incorporation of Rancho Santa Margarita.
• Lawrence “Larry” McCook, RSM: Retired business executive who garnered more than 4,300 votes during a six-week campaign for the council in 2010.
• Kathleen A. Roach, RSM: Worked 15 years in municipal government, including seven as the assistant to the city manager in Rancho Santa Margarita.
• Michael F. Safranski, RSM: Senior director of facilities and security for Emulex Corp., board president of the Trabuco Canyon Water District and Trabuco Highlands Community Association.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.