Downtown Huntington Beach group gets more time to analyze external review

The Huntington Beach City Council on Monday gave the Downtown Business Improvement District more time to analyze the findings of an external review meant to improve the organization’s business practices.

The review was conducted by an international organization during the summer at the request of the City Council and the findings were presented at Monday’s meeting.

The council was set to vote on whether to support the appointment of a CEO and establishing a city BID review committee to help implement the recommendations, but council members voted 5-0 to allow the BID to have time to identify which proposals they favor from the review.

Councilman Billy O’Connell was recused for nearby business interests and Councilman Patrick Brenden was absent.

The BID will then report back to the council in six months with a status update.

A business improvement district is a public-private partnership that aims to revitalize a commercial neighborhood. Huntington Beach has three: the Downtown BID, Auto Dealers BID and Hotel/Motel BID.

Among the list of the IDA report’s conclusions was that the BID should be more “nimble and quick to respond to issues affecting downtown.”

“Before the city starts doing more committees and babysitting the group, they should be able to look the report over,” Councilman Erik Peterson said.

Peterson mentioned that the council has three liaisons to the BID giving them adequate oversight and enabling the city to remain apprised of any developments.

The review was conducted by the International Downtown Assn., which provides studies and recommendations to business improvement districts worldwide. The BID board approved the review in late April after the City Council requested it.

The review came on the heels of months of increased scrutiny of the BID, including a review from the city’s Finance Commission to address potentially improper use of funds. The commission found no evidence of wrongdoing upon concluding its analysis in late March.

Police chief and union feud plays out at council meeting

A dispute between the Huntington Beach police union and the city’s police chief played out in the public sphere Monday night at the City Council meeting.

The union announced a vote last week of “no confidence” in Chief Robert Handy. Officers voted 207-11 against Handy, with four voters undecided and two ballots unreturned.

Some residents voiced support for the chief at the meeting while union members presented their case.

Resident Adrienne Low said she appreciates the effort Handy’s made in developing relationships with people in the community.

Pete Brunner, representing the Rotary Club of Huntington Beach, echoed gratitude for Handy’s community policing programs and outreach to the public.

Officers Miguel Prieto and Yasha Nikitin pointed to Handy’s inneffective leadership and inability to unify the department.

Also at the meeting, Handy gave an update on the department’s use of body cameras.

Handy has said he believes the union’s dislike for the body cameras jump-started their campaign against him, though the union denies this allegation.

Handy said the update on Monday was requested by the council months ago.

After the council approved the cameras in September, 50 officers began wearing them. As part of the presentation, Handy provided a review of a survey of the camera use.

The survey found that 24 of the officers said the camera was helpful, 16 said it had little impact on their shift and four said their shift was hindered by the cameras. Not all officers took part in the survey.

benjamin.brazil@latimes.com

Twitter:@benbrazilpilot