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San Clemente council selects Rick Loeffler as mayor after internal vote; mayor pro tem chosen after multiple rounds
Summary
The San Clemente City Council appointed Councilmember Rick Loeffler as mayor in an internal vote on Dec. 9, 2025, after residents urged the council to follow tradition and elevate Mayor Pro Tem Mark Enmeier. The council also selected a mayor pro tem by multiple rounds of voting.
The San Clemente City Council appointed Councilmember Rick Loeffler as mayor during its Dec. 9 meeting after an internal, electronic vote among councilmembers.
The council began the evening by accepting two public commenters who urged the council to follow the city’s tradition of elevating the mayor pro tem. Mike Daller, a lifelong resident, urged the council to "consider and vote for Mark Enmeier for mayor," saying, "Let Mark move on up." Multiple other residents, including Donna Vadrine and Catherine Hall, made similar appeals for continuity and tradition.
City Clerk opened nominations; several councilmembers nominated themselves. In the first recorded round for Councilmember Mark Enmeier, the clerk reported a technical issue during the electronic vote and noted "2 yeses, 2 abstains" and then stated that the motion failed for lack of a majority. After subsequent ballots the clerk announced that Councilmember Rick Loeffler "has been selected to serve" as mayor (the transcript does not provide a detailed roll-call tally for that final selection).
Councilmembers spoke briefly about the process and the difficulty of making an affirmative selection when multiple colleagues are qualified. One candidate said, "I'd be absolutely honored to represent the city as mayor," and pledged to lead collaboratively.
After selecting a new mayor, the council conducted separate internal rounds to pick a mayor pro tem. Multiple rounds were required because no candidate secured a majority in early ballots. The council ultimately filled the mayor pro tem post in the same session; the clerk recorded that the councilmember slated to serve as mayor pro tem would do so under Mayor Loeffler (the transcript records varied spellings of the incumbent mayor and mayor pro tem in different places).
The internal election was conducted under the council’s standard electronic-voting procedure and reflected public comment urging continuity in leadership. The council then proceeded to the remainder of its agenda, including ceremonial recognitions and several routine and policy items.
