Three candidates are running for one open seat on the San Juan Capistrano City Council while races in two other districts already have been decided.

Elections were canceled in Districts 2 and 4 because only one candidate filed and qualified in each. Incumbents Troy Bourne and John Taylor, facing no challengers, were appointed back to their seats at a City Council meeting in August.

In District 3, however, Councilman Derek Reeve is not seeking reelection, and three people are vying for his seat. The district runs along the southwest edge of the city, bordering Dana Point.

The candidates include: John Campbell, a former senior account manager and treasurer and board member of the Camino Real Playhouse; Paul Lopez, an attorney for a nonprofit organization and law professor who is on the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission; and Cody Martin, a small business owner and member of San Juan Capistrano’s Parks, Equestrian & Community Services Commission.

Among key issues the city leaders will face are ongoing pressures to preserve open space, balancing development and the need for more housing with the desire to maintain quality of life for residents and, like most cities, identifying solutions to homelessness.

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