San Juan Capistrano : Councilman Schwartze Elected Mayor for Year

Phillip Schwartze, mayor pro-tem and a member of the City Council since 1978, has been named San Juan Capistrano’s new mayor. Outgoing Mayor Gary Hausdorfer assumed the role of mayor pro-tem. Both men were elected to the one-year posts by unanimous votes of the council.

Schwartze had served as mayor for a year beginning in April 1981. Hausdorfer first served in that post in 1980.

A former chairman of the city’s Planning Commission and the Parks and Recreation Commission, Schwartze is vice president of Phillips, Brandt and Reddick Inc., an Irvine-based planning firm.

Schwartze said he will devote much of his attention to economic development in San Juan Capistrano, finding a site and getting architectural approval for the new City Hall, and city expansion. “Capistrano Beach is speaking to us about annexing part of that city to ours; we could increase our size dramatically,” he said.

In addition to his civic duties, Schwartze, who has lived in San Juan Capistrano for 15 years, has served as president of his homeowners’ association. A graduate of Cal State Northridge and Cal State Los Angeles, he received a certificate in urban planning from UC Irvine.