By Eric Heinz
With no more ballots left to count, Chris Hamm (14,315 votes) garnered the most votes, earning him a seat on City Council, while Steven Swartz (11,421 votes) took the second seat.
This is Swartz’s first time being elected to City Council and Hamm’s second.
“I’m glad that it was a tight race, and I’m very happy to have succeeded, and I’m looking forward to trying to accomplish the things I said in my campaign,” Swartz said.
Some of Swartz’s top priorities are to address homeless and transient population issues, tackle drug problems in the city and to support San Clemente’s businesses in order to generate more sales tax revenue.
“I’m looking forward to working with the City Council to make our city greater than it already is,” Swartz said.
Hamm said he is looking forward to working with various factions in the city to continue improvements to public safety and infrastructure.
“Some of my priorities were in North Beach. … We have a lot of cool projects coming on board, and I think there’s a lot of potential in North Beach that’s been underutilized for the last 30 years or so,” Hamm said.
Hamm was a vehement supporter of keeping Saddleback Memorial Medical Center operational in San Clemente, and he said he will continue his efforts to reestablish a hospital and emergency room within the city.
Dan Bane (11,074 votes) came in third, Robert “Bob” Baker (10,912 votes) came in fourth and Pamela Joy Glass (1,888 votes) came in fifth.
The new City Council will be sworn into office and the new mayor will be appointed at the Dec. 20 City Council meeting.
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