With more than 56% of the votes counted so far, Zhen Wu appears to be the first Asian-American elected to the San Clemente City Council in the city’s 96-year history.

As of Monday’s update from the OC Registrar of Voters, the former planning commissioner had 4,479 votes to his competitor Sarah Schneider’s 3,469 in the city’s first-ever district elections. Wu is being elected by voters who live in District 4, an area that runs from the border of Avenida Victoria — which divides the two coastal districts — to the city’s southern end above and below the 5 freeway.

“My persuasiveness and persistence paid off,” Wu said Monday of his lead and likely win after trying two other times for a seat on the dais.

Incumbent Rick Loeffler, who faced competition from three challengers, continues to be happy with the trend of vote counting – he jumped to an early lead shortly after the close of polls on Nov. 5. With more than 3,300 votes, he has a significant lead over his next closest challenger, Angela Watts, who as of Monday, Nov. 11, had 2,440 votes.

“I thought it would be a whole lot closer,” Loeffler said. “I guess my message got across.”

That message, he said, was simple and he didn’t make any new promises.

“You know what you have with me: stability and being able to work with people,” he said.

The city’s transition to district elections came with challenges for the candidates, he said. Among those, he said, was that many of the people who supported him were from other districts.

“I knew a lot more people in Districts 1, 2 and 4,” he said. “It was hard getting across that only people in your district can vote, but you’re still a council person for the entire city.”

Loeffler said he looks forward to continuing to work on issues in his district – the council recently approved a new, 28-room boutique hotel on Avenida Del Mar – and on other topics important to the entire community.

“I will continue to be an advocate and champion for public safety and quality of life in San Clemente,” Loeffler said.

Wu said he expects his urban planning and architecture expertise to be a significant asset to the council, especially as the body faces new development projects.

“I think I can make a balanced approach on developments,” he said. “Most people don’t have that fine-tuned eye to make that nuanced call. That’s something I think we can see some improvement on in the next 12 months.”

Wu said he will also focus on fiscal responsibility, especially regarding the city’s emergency fund, which he says has seen some one-off costs lately, such as the $8 million spent on repairing the slope under the Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens and the millions of dollars to replenish sand along the city’s beaches and near railroad tracks.

“I want to bring the city’s fiscal situation back to a sustainable path,” he said, adding that some solutions he sees are promoting economic development and watching the city spending more carefully. “We don’t want to spend money unnecessarily. The city needs a lot of money, but without financial resources, we can’t talk about it. It’s moot.”

Wu and Loeffler agreed the city needs to lean into state and federal funding to help with its sand replenishment efforts.

The voters’ response to Measure BB, which would have added a half-cent local sales tax to raise funds to restore sand on local beaches, maintain the beach trail and pier, and provide funds to San Clemente lifeguards for equipment, showed a definite interest in getting more sand on the beaches Loeffler said. However, at just under 64%, it does not appear to have hit the necessary two-thirds support for it to pass. The measure would have raised an estimated $6.75 million annually in revenue for the city.

Wu, who said he was not a proponent of raising people’s taxes, said he believes reports of possible state and federal funding two weeks before the polls closed may have affected the vote.

He did some polling and thought it was likely to land in the low 60%, he said. “I was feeling it was a toss-up if I had to bet, but I thought it would fail by a few percent.”

“I want to work with the county, (Orange County Transportation Authority), state and federal agencies to implement projects in the coastal area,” he said. “We want to leverage these resources to help. OCTA wants to protect its rails; they agreed to put sand on our beaches as mitigation.”

Loeffler, too, wants to see these agencies help out with sand.

“We need sand to repair the revetment areas; if we can get a little for the recreation area, that will be great,” he said. “The state sees that people think sand is important on our beaches, and that we’re willing to make an investment.”