TUSTIN : Incumbents, 2 Others Enter Council Race

City Council members Leslie Anne Pontious and Charles E. Puckett were among four people who picked up nomination forms this week ( in anticipation of the April 12 municipal election, in which two seats on the five-member council will be at stake.

Businessman Michael Doyle and Tracy Worley, a member of the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission, also picked up the forms and said they will challenge Pontious and Puckett for their council seats.

Each candidate must be nominated by at least 20 voters to qualify for the nonpartisan election, according to Valerie Whiteman, chief deputy city clerk. The deadline for submitting nomination forms with signatures is Jan. 20, Whiteman said.

Mayor Jim Potts has endorsed Doyle and Worley against his council colleagues, putting an unexpected wrinkle in next year’s election.

Doyle and Worley, who have promised to share campaign expenses, announced their candidacies in October, six months before the election, in an unusually early start for local politics.

Doyle, 52, who owns the Revere House restaurant, said he hoped the early announcement would make up for the lack of name recognition that challengers often must overcome.

Pontious, 48, and Puckett, 50, both former members of the Planning Commission, are seeking their second terms on the council. Both have also served in the rotating one-year post of mayor.