Joel Lautenschleger is elected Laguna Hills mayor for 2009.
He was sworn in on Tuesday Dec. 9, 2008.
From The City Of Laguna Hills Website:
Joel Lautenschleger was first elected to the Laguna Hills City Council concurrent with the vote on incorporation in March 1991 and has served on the City Council ever since. He served as Mayor in 1995, 2000, and 2004. Prior to incorporation in 1991, Mayor Lautenschleger served as Chief Petitioner and Co-Chairperson for the successful cityhood drive.
A Laguna Hills resident since 1985, Mayor Lautenschleger, his wife, and four children have been extremely active in school, youth athletic, and community programs. He has always considered community involvement a priority and has been actively involved with scouting, AYSO, coaching, refereeing, Saddleback Valley YMCA, and area schools.
As an inaugural City Council Member, he shared the dream of building athletic fields and a Community Center as a gathering place for the community. That dream became a reality as the long-awaited Community Center and Sports Complex opened in June 2002. Joel has represented the City of Laguna Hills on the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency Board of Directors since 1992. He presently serves as its Chairman helping to make this vital South Orange County transportation link a reality. Joel also serves as the City Alternate Board Member to the Orange County Fire Authority and serves as a board member for the Saddleback Valley YMCA and the Laguna Hills AYSO.
Mayor Lautenschleger recently sold a very successful healthcare facility to spend more time with community programs, grandchildren, and a fairly extensive involvement with property management throughout Orange County. He received his Bachelors of Biological Science Degree from Cal Poly Pomona, and a Masters Degree in Medical Technology Management from Cal State Dominguez Hills. He has appeared before numerous committees regarding long-term care, as well as appearing on KOCE-TV to discuss health care issues.
Mayor Lautenschleger was very proud and happy to be a part of the effort to defeat a commercial airport at El Toro and preserving the quality of life that Laguna Hills residents have so long enjoyed.
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The voting in his favor was unanimous. This is his fourth time as mayor.
Councilman Randal Bressette was elected mayor pro tem also on a unanimous vote.
“One of the primary goals for this city will be to maintain our fiscal responsibility to our residents,” Lautenschleger said in his address as mayor.
“This is going to be a very busy year because this is also the year we will be developing our two-year budget,” Lautenschleger added. “There’s going to be many capital projects that we want to do, but we’ve got to use judicious management of our resources and continue to follow our fiscal policies to truly best serve our residents.”
Lautenschleger said it is important that the city continue to make economic developments in the city’s retail areas and that more effort should be put forth in improving some of the city’s hill sides and slopes. He also said he would look into having the City Council meetings accessible online.
During his campaign, Lautenschleger’s key issues included maintaining fiscal responsibility, protecting city funds from the state, and working toward further commercial center development.
He said what made the difference for him this election was the large amount of time he spent walking the streets in the community.
“I really spent a lot of time going door to door. It wasn’t so much me having to convince anybody. It was more people telling me we’ve done a good job,” Lautenschleger said in a previous interview.
