Councilman Sam Allevato New San Juan Capistrano Mayor

The San Juan Capistrano City Council majority flexed its muscles by putting two of its own in the Nos. 1 and 2 spots, with Sam Allevato becoming mayor and Larry Kramer becoming mayor pro tem.

Unlike last year, when minority Councilman Derek Reeve was first passed over for the mayor pro tem position and tempers flared, there was no discussion about the reshuffling.

Allevato is facing a recall attempt, and recently civility between the 3-2 split has broken down. Kramer's seat is up for re-election in the coming year.

“Every decision I make is really based on what’s best for the majority of this town,” Allevato said in his first remarks as mayor. “Thank you for this honor. I won’t let you down.”

During the break, Reeve said there was no point in trying to return to a more normal rotation of the honorary role. Last year, Kramer “made it very clear he will never vote for me because he disagrees with me on the issues, and I don’t think anything’s changed.”

Councilman Roy Byrnes was selected chairman of the San Juan Capistrano Housing Authority and Reeve vice chair.

Outgoing Mayor John Taylor also got a chance to summarize his year as mayor, a year that saw the downtown becoming more vibrant, opening of a new dog park, the trains silencing their horns through town and  the selling of several city properties.

“It’s been one of the dreams of my life [to be mayor]. I did the best I could, and I think we did a lot,” Taylor said.

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