Seven challenging incumbents

Editor's note: This changes the third paragraph to include Patrick Tucker's title.

Ten candidates for the Fountain Valley City Council are going into the last three weeks of campaigning.

Candidates are vying for three opens seats occupied by Mayor Pro Tem Cheryl Brothers and Councilmen Guy Carrozzo and John Collins, each of whom are running for reelection.

The candidates range from a tire stores manager, teachers, a small business owner and an insurance broker, to two unemployed folks, one working on getting a job and another a former quality supervisor analyst rendered unable to work by a disability.

The following are brief profiles of the seven challengers in the race based on questionnaires they submitted to the Independent. The incumbents were featured last week.

Looking for a chance to serve

Jim Pull, 50, a Minnesota native, who has lived in Fountain Valley for about 40 years, is unemployed because of a disability and looking to get his first taste at being a public servant; he has never held an elected office before.

His unemployment has given him the opportunity to run, Pull said. He will have the time and energy to devote to the city without the distractions of a job, he said.

"I am proud of my city," he said. "I enjoy living here and want to do everything I can so that all the residents feel the same way."

The biggest issues in the city are the budget and "maintaining public safety and services in the current economic situation while trying to create a budget that will not only keep us from going further into debt, but also pull us out of our current past due obligations," he said.

The city needs to also encourage businesses in the city by streamlining building codes and fees, he said.

Water not wasted

Mark McCurdy, an insurance broker, was born in Lynwood and but moved to Fountain Valley nearly 20 years ago.

The 50-year-old has served as the Chamber of Commerce president, Housing and Community Development Advisory Board chairman, a traffic commissioner and as a member of the Orange County Transportation Authority Citizens Advisory Committee.

For McCurdy, the biggest issues the city faces are revenue, attracting business, repairing aging infrastructure and transparency. He supports how the council has handled the budget and said he would continue the practice in the future.