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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Min 1999-01-05 12-14-98 I 12-28-98 I 1-5-99 Approved, ~~ ~ ~ , pMa!j.~ I Attest: S~al Beach, California December 28, 1998 The Seal Beach City Council regular meeting of December 28th, 1998 was canceled in observance of the holiday season. o ex-off'cio clerk Seal Beach Seal Beach, California January 5, 1999 I The City Council of the City of Seal Beach met in regular adjourned session at 5:04 p.m. with Mayor ProTem Campbell calling the meeting to order with the Salute to the Flag. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor ProTem Campbell Councilmembers Boyd, Doane, Yost Absent: None Vacancy: One Also present: Mr. Till, City Manager Mrs. Yeo, City Clerk Boyd moved, second by Yost, to move Oral Communications prior to the City Council position interviews. AYES: NOES: VACANCY: -Boyd, Campbell, Doane, Yost None One Motion carried I ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Mayor ProTem Campbell declared Oral Communications open. Mr. Reg Clewley, Catalina Avenue, said moving Oral Communications forward on the agenda was the right thing to do as required by the Brown Act. Mr. Clewley said his program was not forthcoming in preparation for this evening as it is necessary to provide a minimum twenty-four hour advance notice to the City for the use a slide table, therefore claimed the public does not have the opportunity to address the issues on this agenda. He recommended that consideration 1-5-99 I of the agenda be held over toano~her time so that the agenda can be arranged properly to provide for adequate public participation which would include the use of a slide projector and illustrative aids. He said he had questions for one applicant in particular, the Council ha.d copies of those questions, yet he would prefer to personally make his recommendation as to who should serve as an appointed Council member, unfortunately the subject district consists of elderly individuals and health considerations makes it impractical for them to attempt to serve the City in the capacity that is available, this is a caretaker position, the Council should do all it can to find someone who has not corne up through the ranks of a career civil servant, such appointment would be inappropriate, a citizen of the community should be sought that is willing to serve and does not have their record out in front of them, in his opinion none of the candidates are a suitable applicant for City Council. There being no further comments, Mayor ProTem Campbell declared Oral Communications closed. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Boyd moved, second by Doane, to approve the agenda as previously revised. AYES: NOES: VACANCY: Boyd, Campbell, Doane, Yost None One Motion carried I COUNCIL INTERVIEWS - DISTRICT TWO - CITY COUNCIL POSITION Mayor ProTem Campbell announced the commencement of interviews for the District Two City Council vacancy. After brief discussion the Council requested that the two applicants be seated at the staff table, give a brief summary of their background, and then respond to questions posed by the Council. The City Clerk noted that the Council had been provided with an additional copy of the letters of interest, and reported that it was discovered that one applicant actually resides in District Five rather than District Two, and he had been so informed. Upon a flip of a coin Mr. Larson commenced the interview. I Mr. John Larson stated he was born in Long Beach, lived in Long Beach and nearby communities most of his life, spent four years in the Marine Corps, carne through Seal Beach a number of times, thereafter graduated from USC Law School, practiced in Long Beach for a short while, went to the County Counsel's office in Los Angeles, became Chief Trial Counsel and Chief Tax Counsel for the County, and advisor to the Regional Planning Commission, that during the period after the War when the County was growing, zoning then considerably different from now. He said he then went into private practice, almost exclusively in the area. of municipal law, assisted with the formation of various cities and was City Attorney to several. He returned to work with the Council, retired therefrom in 1983, practiced in Los Angeles for some time, was then appointed to Chair the Fair political Practices Commission, relocating to Sacramento for a period of five years, noted that in that capacity the Commissioners are not permitted to succeed themselves, once leaving that position he served as a member of the Board for the Registration of Geologists and Geophysicists, thereafter on the Board of Landscape Architects. After that he formally retired and moved to Leisure World in 1990, where he has done public interest work, has been appointed as a member of the Planning Commission, is on the Presidents Circle for Chapman 1-5-99 University participating on a committee to raise scholarship funds. Mr. Larson concluded that those activities occupy most of his time, and any time left over is spent with two grandsons in Long Beach. Mr. Paul Snow thanked the Council for allowing him to be included in this interview. Mr. Snow said as he outlined in his letter, after receiving his degree from Texas Christian University he became involved with a major contractor, Morrison Knudsen, a firm with which he spent twenty years on various projects throughout the western hemisphere, was in Brazil for five years on hydro-electric and railroad development projects, the same type work in Colombia for about three years. After returning to the States he became involved in other projects throughout, yet the project that primarily comes to mind is a project at Pearl Harbor and being there December 7th, 1941. He expressed his pleasure with living in Leisure World for the past twenty-two years, there is satisfaction in living in a community such as Seal Beach, having looked at other areas prior to. He noted that Leisure World is comprised of sixteen mutuals, each a corporation duly incorporated in the State of California, there is a Board of Directors selected by the shareholders of each mutual, he has served as a member of that Board for six years, President of the Board for two years, he then turned his experience to the Golden Rain Foundation Board of which there are eighteen members, this is his tenth year, President of the Foundation for two different years, and serving on those boards he has in fact learned that you can not please everyone all of the time. Mr. Snow said he feels strongly about trying to help the City in any way he can regarding the revenue situation, he would like to see the reduction of the Utility Tax, yet he knows budgets and that revenue needs to be generated at some point to offset revenue from the Utility Tax. He offered that his construction experience may help the staff in some cases, he was here to assure that he would do everything possible to be of assistance. Mr. Snow again expressed appreciation for this opportunity. I I In jest, Councilman Doane noted the outcome of a football game between Texas Christian and USC, the interviewees graduates of those two schools. The questions posed and responses thereto by the applicants were: * Is it felt that the City Council position would in any way hurt their longevity; The response of both applicants was no. If it is felt there are things that the City Council is doing wrong, how would the applicants go about correcting same; Mr. Snow said he has spent considerable time listening to the Bixby consideration, District Two is comprised of basically three different groups of people, he has had some comments from College Park West residents, feeling to some degree they have been neglected, the condo residents of Montecito as well, possibly there could be a more cohesive way to give attention to the residents outside the center of Seal Beach; Mr. Larson noted that the Council has been working together, there are normal disputes and opinions, he would not add to any problems of interpersonal relations of the Council, he would hope he could help, it would be wrong of him to judge that one should act one way or I * I I I 1-5-99 * . another. 'What would be a vision for Seal Beach some ten or ,fifteen years from now; Mr. Larson said today there is an upscale community with small town atmosphere, attempting to keep that atmosphere, hopefully in a few years it will still be there; that there would not be an effort to change the single family residences into multiple as has been done in a neighboring city, rather, hold the line in Seal Beach for the future, allow what has been approved to be developed, however he views Seal Beach as a fine community that keeps its small town atmosphere, Main Street can not be surpassed for that in almost any other city; Mr. Snow stated he feels strongly about the future, one item is water, some day a drinking water problem will be faced in Orange County, a lot of water is now being recycled into the aquifer that Orange County is fortunate to have, however having listened to experts at the Sanitation District, he would like to help in that regard as Seal Beach will need to be involved in the reclamation issue. Both have heard the feelings of the Council with regard to the Bixby proposal, with Council concurrence, asked for the applicants views in terms of thinking process and issues; Mr. Larson said he was one of the Planning Commission members who voted against the motion to deny the project, his thinking was that it had a number of good proposals and benefits to the City, that it was inappropriate to just turn it down given the work and thought that had gone into the proposal, and the options that were available to the City, he did not support the idea of a cemetery, the residential was good, people sometimes do not understand that the City is dealing with the expectations of the citizens of the entire community and the funds necessary to meet those expectations, infrastructure and other things, this provided one means of gaining sufficient income to do more for the City, he felt that the vote was proper and would likely have voted the same; Mr. Snow recalled considerable discussion some years ago regarding the Bixby office complex, there was quite an opposition to that from College Park East, yet as it has turned out it is unique and positive to the City of Seal Beach, it also helped the traffic problems, he has had the opportunity to speak with a representative of the Rossmoor Center as well as the Bixby Company, said he is in favor of the Bixby proposal, it could be the answer to some of the City's financial problems, he conceded however that there is a problem in Rossmoor Center, there are presently businesses that want to double the space that they have under lease yet it is not available, this is something that needs to be considered since there has been nothing done to that Center since it was built thirty years ago. Question from a member of the audience was posed with regard to why applicant Larson felt that zero lot lines for,the'Anaheim Bay Villas was a good proposal; Mr. Larson explained that no one agreed with his opinion, however in his view if there was six feet between the units on the narrow lots, three feet for each unit, yet from the street it would look the same between the units, to that the Commission agreed to go back to the three foot setback on each side. * * 1-5-99 * To applicant Snow, as a, member of the Golden Rain Board, would that be considered a conflict of interest to also be a member of the Council, would he leave that position; Mr. Snow advised that he would have to leave the Board pursuant to the by-laws, regardless, his intent is to leave the Foundation in June having served ten years, yet he could not see any conflict as there is nothing that they depend on as far as the City is concerned, they do their own street work, lighting, etc. the only service paid to the City is the street sweeper, sewer service is paid, the City is paid for the water, it is not believed there would be any conflict. Question asked if the applicants understand the role and responsibilities of a Councilmember and if so the process by which the City does business; Mr. Larson responded that one of the things he has done over the years is conduct seminars for new councilmembers and supervisors, as a city attorney has answered many questions as to the function of various city officials and councilmembers, it is believed the object of each councilmember is to represent his/her district as well as the entire interest of the city and conduct meetings as open as possible, he believes in the intent of the Ralph M. Brown Act, as a city attorney he was likely stricter than some as to when closed sessions could be held, his belief is that there are no secrets anywhere in government, as an advisor to city councils would give him a unique understanding of what his role and function would be if he were fortunate enough to be appointed; Mr. Snow said he could not answer the question as he did not know. The applicants were asked how their families or outside commitments would feel about this possibility, spending hours away during the week, a time commitment of how much; Mr. Snow responded that his wife would not object to his spending an amount of time to do this job properly, made reference to his investigation this date, with his wife along, of the Coastal Mayors meeting, to be held the following day, his five children are located in different areas of the west and they are all waiting to see what will take place, he knows the attitude of his family; Mr. Larson noted that he has been on the Planning Commission which takes time, the length of Council meetings seems to repeat with the Commission, he has two daughters and two grand children located in Long Beach, this would not be a problem, he just finished a six year commitment to his church, this position would not pose a problem. The City is undergoing somewhat of a reorganization, positioning for long term success, strategic planning, fiscal management, infrastructure projects, as part of the goal setting directives to staff the City will be asked to consider privatization of certain services, to that a question was posed as to whether preference would be to privatize for City services or keep those services in-house, the philosophy is to not layoff employees, rather reposition, the intent is more service for the same amount of money or less; Mr. Larson stated he worked on both sides of that issue for years, the County of Los Angeles became concerned about privatization, the golf courses, hospital I I * I * * I I I 1-5-99 * services, etc., some privatization was on behalf of the county, that was doing work for the city, in some cases privatization worked, he has no philosophical objection to it; Mr, Snow offered that Leisure World has gone through something similar, for years the custodians of the administration buildings and clubhouses were done by employees of the Golden Rain Foundation, they were unionized, this became a problem from an economic standpoint and with long time employees, the Foundation then decided to contract that work, the current contractor has done a good job, any privatization of work for the City needs to be researched from a financial standpoint and the quality of work, this question can not be answered in one broad statement. A question proposed by a member of the audience was read with regard to the views of applicant Larson to oral communications at the Planning Commission; Mr. Larson stated he had offered a suggestion that the Commission might want to consider oral communications after those people who had come to the Commission for the purpose of hearing, he felt it unfair to make them wait until after oral communications as they are comments that the Commission can not take action on, the Commission did not consider the suggestion. District Two is fairly wide, how would the applicants intend to represent the district and be knowledgeable of the issues; Mr. Larson said he believes in communication, one needs to go to the people and listen, it would be up to him to set up meetings with the residents, the shopping center, the condos, find out what their issues are, give them the opportunity to speak; Mr. Snow noted there has been brief comment as to the treatment of the College Park West area, the people made these comments to him, concurred with Mr. Larson that one has to stay in touch with the people, you can not please everyone therefore there is need to analyze what is being said and go from there. Question was posed as to the vision for Seal Beach, what is seen as major issues, areas of concern, in the next year, five or ten years; Mr. Larson said the first is revenue and how it can be increased in a fair manner, people talk about getting rid of the utility users tax, however the income is needed, that is going to be an issue, can that be accomplished by privatization, working out some way for greater economies, it is not felt that the City would want to contract for police services, in future years a study will likely be needed to review exactly what the question proposes, is there a way to keep what there is in the way it is or does the City have to make some, an example would be the study that was done for Seal Beach Boulevard, that came up with regard to the Shore Shop property, the feeling was that maybe the area should be restudied, that is the type of thing the City will be doing in five and ten years, what is needed now is for the City to decide collectively where it should be and then do all possible to assure that comes about, if that means a slow growth City, then do it; Mr. Snow acknowledged that Mr. Larson answered the question properly, yet said he personally feels strongly about things such as drainage, that needs to be studied, the water issue as well, the City will not be faced with those for a few years, nothing is more precious than the * * 1-5-99 * source of water, the City too will need to join the Orange County group with regard to the recycling of water, the condition and use of streets will need more study than there has been, those are the things he feels the City will be faced with in the future. Question was what is felt to be the single most important issue or task at hand, lowering the utility users tax, public safety; Mr. Larson responded infrastructure; Mr. Snow said he felt the reduction of crime in Seal Beach is going to be a major problem, to keep the low rate of crime presently being enjoyed, the Police Department has done a fine job in the past, the scam issue on which they have held workshops for the older citizens was good, daily crime has been reduced as well, these things are going to be faced and should be watched. The applicants were asked their favorite book and what they like to do for fun; Mr. Snow responded probably the book Clerk Yeo keeps on budget information, for fun it is reading, play golf, but due to spending several years in the State of Washington he learned that the best sport one can get into in that part of the country is river and stream fishing; Mr. Larson said he has a houseful of books, however mentioned Thomas Hardy's Return To The Navy, a book he felt would never end before completing a class, golf is for fun. Question was if the applicants speak any other language; Mr. Larson's response was no; Mr. Snow said he learned Portuguese, unfortunately before learning Spanish. Inquiry was made as to the applicant's thoughts on Main Street; Mr. Larson said he has eaten there a few times, noted there have been some zoning issues, at the last Commission meeting he said there were too many bars on the Street, that is his personal opinion, there is something different now, which is undefinable as to why it is different, nice and enjoyable, it draws one to Main Street, discussion of allowing three stories and whether people are allowed to put residences on top will be brought up, on those issues he has not made up his mind as to what would be beneficial to the City; Mr. Snow made reference to a lady that read a poem at a recent meeting regarding Christmas decorations on Main Street, that they could be improved for such seasonal occasions, he carne to the parade, the young people and parents enjoyed being on Main Street, he felt that it should be of interest to create everything that can be done to further glorify, in a family sense, Main Street. Noting the mention of the residents of College Park West and the Montecito townhomes feeling they have been disenfranchised, question was how the applicants feel about representing Leisure World and the people from other areas who do not necessarily appreciate Leisure World, to improve that relationship; Mr, Snow said he has mingled to some degree with College Park West residents, that he does not see that as a particular problem between the groups, his belief is that many do not understand Leisure World because it is a closed community and that may have caused some conflict; I I * * I * * I I I 1-5-99 Mr. Larson offered that there are a lot of resources in Leisure World, there may be opportunity for Leisure World and the City to work together to provide volunteers or whatever for things that need to be done, some of that may be taking place now yet there are other areas where there can be interaction, the people in Leisure World spend their money, buy gas, etc. in Seal Beach, the same as any other resident or voter, he has not sensed any animosity to the fact that you reside some place that is considered by some to be captive, he has never felt that way, again, he would encourage inter-relationship through volunteer programs, there are many people who want to do some good. Councilman Doane complimented and expressed appreciation to both applicants for their responses to the questions. Councilman Yost noted too that both applicants are very well qualified, the City would be served well by either, and thanked them both. Councilman Boyd added his appreciation for their interest as did Mayor ProTem Campbell, and invited concluding remarks from both applicants, possibly why they would want to be a member of the Council. * Mr. Snow stated that once one has been in an organization for sixteen years as he has some would think that you would be tired of people and their problems, but that does not bother him, he is healthy, and would like to stay in an organization for another two to three years if possible and continue with what he has done in the past, he has been involved, with interest, in the Sanitation District, he devoted considerable time in research for the Leisure World library, he discovered a couple of documents that may have saved it, it was satisfying to find that Leisure World was the low bidder for the library which is now second to none in all of Orange County, those are some of the things he has done, and he would like to be involved in the physical, political, and financial areas of Seal Beach. * Mr. Larson thanked the Council again for allowing this opportunity for both applicants, said either choice would be good for the city, his entire professional life has been involved with government, he loves government, government provides things for its people, all politics and democracy starts local, expressed his belief that he could contribute and get along with the members of the Council, yet either choice will not be wrong. Councilmember Yost announced that the Mayor's luncheon is to be held the following day and extended an invitation for both applicants to attend if they desire. Mayor ProTem Campbell said the Council will make a selection of the District Two representative at the next meeting and that the appointee will be seated at the regular meeting of January 28th. The City Manager inquired if his understanding was correct that Mayor ProTem Campbell would be serving on the WestComm Board, their meetings quarterly, the next a week from Thursday. Councilman Boyd said he presumed that Mayor ProTem Campbell would assume the vacancy created by the departure of former Mayor Brown, then suggested that such appointment be placed on the next Council agenda. ADJOURNMENT It was the order of the Chair, with consent of the Council, 1-5-99 / 1-11-99 to adjourn the meeting until January 11th, 1999 to meet in Closed Session if deemed necessary. consent the meeting was adjourned at 6:25 p.m. at 6:30 p.m. By unanimous clerk Approved: ~(JjJ;;r~ ~ r (j~ Ma or' Pr Attest: Seal Beach, California January 11, 1999 The City Council of the City of Seal Beach met in regular adjourned session at 6:31 p.m. with Mayor ProTem Campbell calling the meeting to order with the Salute to the Flag. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor ProTem Campbell Councilmembers Boyd, Doane, Yost Absent: None vacancy: One Also present: Mr. Till, City Manager Mr. Barrow, City Attorney Mrs. Yeo, City Clerk APPROVAL OF AGENDA Boyd moved, second by Doane, to approve the order of the agenda as presented. AYES: NOES: VACANCY: Boyd, Campbell, Doane, Yost None One Motion carried CLOSED SESSION The City Attorney announced that the Council would meet in Closed Session to discuss the item identified on the agenda pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(a), existing litigation, Case Number WCAB #VN002l864, et al, Ellison versus City of Seal Beach. By unanimous consent, the Council adjourned to Closed Session at 6:33 p.m. and reconvened at 7:04 p.m. with Mayor ProTem Campbell calling the meeting to order. The City Attorney reported that the Council had met in Closed Session to discuss the item previously identified, no action was taken. I ,A'" I I