A more detailed Bio

By John Taylor

This is a more detailed biography of who I am and what I have been doing in San Juan Capistrano these past 25 years

Family (kids) We have 2 children, our son is 20 years old. Harrison graduated from Capistrano Valley High School then went on to Orange Coast College for 2 years then transferred to USC, where he is beginning his senior year with an International Relations major. He is also been involved with collegiate rowing and is currently in England for the world's most prestigious rowing event , The Royal Henley Regatta. We are a rowing family, my father rowed for the St. Catharine's Rowing Club in Ontario Canada for eight years and I also rowed for Orange Coast College for 2 years. My daughter Claire is 12 years old and just finished the 6th grade at Marco Forester Middle School. She got all A's and 2 A+'s. She is an avid reader and very tall for her age. Her favorite sport is soccer and she plays AYSO nearly all year as a goalie. I have been her coach for a number of years, not because I know anything about soccer but because I was the only parent willing to take on the job of coaching. Which was the greatest job and we had such a good time. I have met so many great parents in our community and it is through coaching that I have met so many people in town. Marianne and I will be celebrating out 23rd anniversary on June 28th. We have a solid marriage and 2 wonderful kids. Occupation: I own my own General Contracting and Property Management Company. I work on commercial office buildings in all phases of development. From acquisition to entitlements, working with the City Government and Building Departments, to design and budgeting and leasing and property management, I do it all. I have been in business for about 25 years. In 2008 I studied for and received my LEED Accredited Professional designation. This involves the design and construction of sustainable buildings, from site selection right down to the type of cleaning products used.

Hobbies: I love sailing first and foremost. I taught sailing for 15 years on Saturday's for the University of California, Irvine's Sailing Program. I was fortunate to find a used 40' sailboat that needed a lot of work in 2001 and have been sailing with my family ever since. It is my life's dream to one day sail around the world.

I also love restoring old houses. That is why we chose to buy the old "Labat House" in the Los Rios Historic District over 20 years ago. The house was built by the Labat Family in 1887 and it is a contributing structure to the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1995, I also saved the "Love House" from demolition and moved it from behind the Swallows Bar to make way for a parking lot. My Dad and I worked on it for 5 years and did a complete historic restoration. It is now on the City's list of the 10 most significant historic structures, which also includes the Mission. We rent it out to a young couple that was married last year. We are very proud to be the stewards of these 2 significant properties.

Organizations that I now belong to or belonged to in the past are : United States Green Building Council, AYSO as a coach and referee, Little League Baseball ( former President for 2 years), Big Brothers of Orange County (former big brother to a fatherless boy), USC Men's Crew Parents , San Juan Capistrano Rotary, Saddleback Church and former Peace Corps volunteer to Liberia, West Africa, where I taught agriculture.

My reason for wanting to run for city council is , I believe we are standing on the crest of change in San Juan Capistrano. Development pressures are all around us, we have a dwindling tax base, and businesses are Closing faster than they are opening. I want to help lead the City into these challenges with a common sense approache that will benefit all of the citizens of San Juan by revitalizing our downtown, getting important anchor tenants interested in our town and getting our own citizens to stay and play in our city . I especially want to further develop a volunteer center that will put the talents of our citizens to work for betterment of San Juan Capistrano. I am not a politician, I am a neighbor that believes in the rights of property owners, that loves to see the green hills that surround our valley and kids playing in our parks. That is what I'm committed to.