Council Candidate Visits With Voters

After 25 years of living and volunteering in Lake Forest, Kathy Zechmeister is running for local office.

The longtime resident held a get-together at on Lake Forest Drive and Trabuco Sunday afternoon to announce her candidacy for Lake Forest City Council.

Zechmeister, an operations director with Merit Property—a company that provides management services to homeowner’s associations and businesses throughout California, including Lake Forest—met with supporters and local voters Sunday afternoon at the restaurant.

About 40 people attended the event at the local eatery, which was decked out with yellow and white balloons, red, white and blue leis and a number of "Kathy 'Z' in 2012" signs.

Zechmeister said that she made the decision to run about four months ago, “to make a difference in the community.”

If elected, Zechmeister says that she will focus on traffic, safety and local development projects, among other issues.

A recent decision by the City Council to  in favor of a slightly less expensive contract clinched Zechmeister's belief that city leaders were forging ahead in the wrong direction.

"I’m concerned about the direction the council is going," she said Sunday, adding that she thinks there’s an "opportunity for new ideas" on the dais.  

Among those who showed up to support Zechmeister was Helen Wilson, the city's founding mayor.

Wilson said that she appreciates Zechmeister's "calm and professional demeanor." The two have worked together before, dating back to the Lake Forest cityhood campaign.

"She’s very fair and she’s very open," Wilson said. "She doesn’t vote based on what she likes and what she doesn’t like. She votes based on what’s best for the city."

John Irish, vice chair of the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission, Rick Lancaster, founder of local band RPL Effect, and Jim Reed, former board member of the Los Aliso Water District, also attended in support of Zechmeister.

"I know her to be a person of sound judgement (and) ethics," Reed said. "All things a public official should be."

In addition to supporters, some residents showed up to meet the candidate for the first time.

Gracie Duran, who has lived in Lake Forest for about three years, said she wanted to visit with Zechmeister and “get her thoughts” about local issues.

Duran, a community services ­coordinator for another city, said that she feels that Lake Forest has been run well in its  She and her husband, Alex, want to meet all the candidates campaigning for a leadership position with the city, she said.

Zechmeister’s announcement pushes the total number of potential candidates for the two seats opening up on the five-member council this fall to three.

Former Planning Commissioner  and longtime resident  (who successfully propelled current-Mayor Pro Tem Scott Voigts to a council seat) have both announced that they plan to fight for a seat at the dais.

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