Community Corner
Video: Motorcycle Cops? Mission Viejo's First Mayor Loves Them
Officers of safety or mildly annoying? Motorcycle cops have a mixed reputation in Mission Viejo, but the city's first mayor says they cut auto accidents in half. "What appears to be maybe a hard hand, results in a much safer community."
Mission Viejo has been consistently named one of the safest cities in California, as well as in the nation. Much of our town's philosophy toward public safety can be credited to the early actions of the city council following incorporation in 1988, and particularly our first mayor, Bill Craycraft.
See the video above as Craycraft explains the importance of traffic police.
Craycraft was working for a division of the Union Oil Company in New Jersey when in 1974, he relocated to Southern California, choosing Mission Viejo as the new community for his family.
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It was in 1986 that Craycraft got his first taste of city politics when he helped oversee Mission Viejo's Financial Feasibility Committee. The committee put the town on the path toward official cityhood.
Shortly after incorporation in March 1988, Bill was elected to the Mission Viejo City Council, where he served as the first mayor. By the time he left the council, Bill had served for seventeen years.
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As a side note, while he was showing me around city hall, I was struck by how many times people came up to him and asked,"when are you going run again?" This long-serving mayor truly left quite an impression on our town.
Watch the video above as Bill describes some of the first steps that were taken to help make Mission Viejo the haven of public safety that it is today.
If you have any stories to share about early Mission Viejo, we would love to have you be a part of our Spotlight series. Just send me an e-mail at averdon@umail.ucsb.edu and we'll be in touch!
