What is the biggest issue facing the...

What is the biggest issue facing the city?

Cleaning up Huntington Beach -- our city government, our streets

and sidewalks and our ocean and beaches. We need to restore trust in

our city; public officials must exercise integrity, and city

government must operate openly and encourage more public

participation (I have done so as a Planning Commissioner). We must

establish -- and fund -- a comprehensive infrastructure repair and

rebuilding program to fix our streets, sidewalks and gutters. We have

to reduce the city’s urban runoff to the ocean and keep our beaches

clean; our economic health and the personal health of our children,

residents and visitors require it. How do we fund these improvements?

First, we must prioritize and commit to those priorities! Within our

nearly $300-million budget, I have discovered areas to shift funds to

these priorities. Also we need to encourage new economic development

-- and not the old way of giving land and tax incentives to

developers that rob our taxpayers.

Considering such issues as the sports complex lawsuit and

improperly converted condominiums, do you agree with criticism that

the city has been mismanaged? How would you run the city better?

The sports complex problem is a classic example of failure to

perform “due diligence” on a contract. The improperly converted

condos are a case of greed. I don’t think mismanagement is occurring

citywide, but poor management and managers must be rooted out and

replaced. A wider issue is lack of timely disclosure to the public. I

understand that both of these problems were known and discussed in

City Hall well before our residents were made aware of them. This

cannot be allowed to happen! The public’s business should be public

information. I have confidence that our new city administrator, Penny

Culbreth-Graft, is the right person to fix these problems, but the

City Council must be totally supportive, and individual council

members must not be part of the problem.

Given that the future of the Bolsa Chica still is unclear, what is

your position on development on the upper portion of the mesa and

other environmental issues facing the city?

For 25 years, I have favored preservation of the entire Bolsa

Chica, and my position has not changed. The upper mesa is equally

important to the health of the whole ecosystem as any other area.

Additionally, the Native American “cog stone” site is one of the most

important indigenous historical sites in coastal California. Other

environmental issues revolve around water and the beach contamination

problem. We must encourage water conservation and education to ward

off the coming water shortage. Planting drought tolerant species on

city property, requiring them in new development and encouraging

residents to replant with them are a good beginning. Urban runoff is

a regional issue, and we must be forceful in regional government

bodies to develop consensus to attack to problem. But we must start

at home and set an example for inland cities to follow. Revitalizing

all the Huntington Beach wetlands and using wetland design to help

filter water to the ground water basin will help replenish supplies.

What direction do you think development -- such as the Strand,

Pacific City, Bella Terra and a third hotel proposed between the

Hilton Waterfront and Hyatt -- should be headed in the city?

First of all, the Strand and Pacific City projects are already

approved. Hopefully, they will be underway on schedule and be

successful. Bella Terra (the old Huntington Beach Mall) renovation is

already under way (and 10 years overdue). New development of whatever

kind must be financially sound, result in revenues to the city, be

well designed, result in no environmental harm (even be

environmentally friendly) and must bring added value to the city, our

residents and our property values. We must revitalize and/or replace

old strip malls and other dilapidated buildings, preserve structures

of historical or community interest, retain the character of our

neighborhoods and repair our infrastructure -- and we must do it with

minimal inconvenience to our residents and our businesses.